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BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 



ALL ABOUT JESUS. 

BY THE 

REV. ALEXANDER DICKSON. 
i2mo. $2.00. 



" The book is one of noble, sweet, and tender sentiments, simply, choicely, and 
reverently expressed." — San Francisco Bulletin. 

" It is especially refreshing to heart Christianity." — Christian Advocate. 

" The most ravishing picture of the God-Man ever put on paper, save by the 
direct agency of the Holy Ghost." — Primitive Christian. 

"A work which a Christian will delight in." — Cumberland Presbyterian 
Quarterly. 

" It is like sitting at the marriage supper, and reposing on the bosom of the 
Beloved." — C. H. Balsbaugh. 

" Almost incomparably rrecious." — The Interior. 

"The writer, like Kepler, seems to be thinking God's thoughts after God." — 
A. T. Pierson, D.D. 

" It is filled with the beauties of holiness." — Episcopal Recorder. 

"The Scriptures sparkle like diamonds brilliantly set on every page." — 
Christian Intelligencer. 

" A glorious tribute to King Jesus " — T. L. Cuyler, D.D. 

"It will carry grace with it wherever it is read by a devout heart." — Zioris 
Herald. 

" The love of Jesus runs along every line." — Troy Daily Whig. 

" Inspired by eloquence drawn from Holy Writ " — Christian Standard. 

" It breathes a spirit of intense consecration." — Albany Evening Journal. 

" The style befits the topic, going from heart to heart with only the logic of 
love." — Presbyterian at Work. 

" It is a real love offering." — Morning Star. 

" We wish a copy of the work could be put in every Christian household." — 
Messiah's He? aid. 



ROBERT CARTER AND BROTHERS, 
530 Broadway, New York. 



Beauty for Ashes. 



BY 

ALEXANDER DICKSON, 

AUTHOR OF "ALL ABOUT JESUS." 



; A Crown for Ashes." — Isa. Ixi. 3. The Vulgate 



NEW YORK: 
ROBERT CARTER AND BROTHERS, 

530 Broadway. 

1878. 



IT 



7>K 



,5 



The Library 
of Congress 

washington 



Copyright, 

By Robert Carter & Brothers. 

1878. 



Cambridge : 
Press of John Wilson 6* Son. 



I BELIEVE IN 

THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS, 

AND DEDICATE THIS BOOK 
TO 

fHg jFrtenog in ^eaben. 

"these are they 

which came out of great tribulation, 

and have washed their robes, 

and made them white 

IN 

QCfje Blooti of tfje Harnfc." 1 



1 Rev. vii. 14. 



"THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD GOD 

IS UPON ME ; 

BECAUSE THE LORD HATH ANOINTED ME TO PREACH 

GOOD TIDINGS UNTO THE MEEK; 

HE HATH SENT ME 

TO BIND UP THE BROKEN-HEARTED, 

TO PROCLAIM LIBERTY TO THE CAPTIVES, 

AND 

THE OPENING OF THE PRISON TO THEM THAT ARE BOUND ; 

TO PROCLAIM THE ACCEPTABLE YEAR OF THE LORD, 

AND THE DAY OF VENGEANCE OF OUR GOD ; 

TO COMFORT ALL THAT MOURN ; 

TO APPOINT UNTO THEM THAT MOURN IN ZION, 

TO GIVE UNTO THEM BEAUTY FOR ASHES, 

THE OIL OF JOY FOR MOURNING, 

THE GARMENT OF PRAISE FOR THE SPIRIT OF HEAVINESS; 

THAT THEY MIGHT BE CALLED 

TREES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, 

THE PLANTING OF THE LORD, THAT HE MIGHT BE 

GLORIFIED." 

Isa. lxi. 1--5. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



I. The Travelling Stranger n 

II. Marah and Elim 31 

III. Elim and Marah 55 

IV. Our Light Affliction 75 

V. Anticipating Trouble 107 

VI. Our Sure Supplies .... . -131 

VII. The Song of Sorrows 153 

VIII. The Beautiful Clouds 187 

IX. The Thorn in the Flesh 209 

X. The Happy Mourners 253 

XI. Waiting and Working 285 

XII. Glory in Tribulation 309 

XIII. The Fearful Things we Fear 329 

XIV. The Fear of Fearful Things 351 

XV. Crossing the Jordan 371 

XVI. Our Heavenly Home 405 



THE TRAVELLING STRANGER. 



BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 



CHAPTER I. 

"I am a stranger with Thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers 
were." — Psalm xxxix. 12. 

COULD we hear the descendant of some Siberian 
exile, after gazing long and sadly over the icy- 
wastes that lay between him and the land he has 
been taught to love, speak these words to his weep- 
ing brother near him ; or could we hear them moaned 
out by some poor slave to his fellow-slave, as the 
weary days went slowly by, they would not surprise 
us so much : because the language then would be in 
exact correspondence with the outward condition of 
the speakers. 

But he who gave them utterance originally was 
neither an exile nor a slave; but, strange as it may 
seem, was one to whom princes bowed in reverence, 
and a mighty nation was obedient. The marks and 
emblems of royalty were round about him. A stately 
palace, to build and beautify which Lebanon had 
been shorn of its choicest cedars and Ophir had 
bled its purest gold, reared its fretted roof above his 
crowned head; a shining sceptre was in his hand, 
and owning him for king, with loving loyalty, Jeru- 
salem and all the pleasant land of Palestine, now rich 



12 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

to overflowing- with material wealth, delighted to do 
him honor. And yet, compassed about with all these 
signs of permanence, crowned King David says, " I 
am a stranger." 

Looking out from the latticed window of his impe- 
rial mansion, he could see the strong tower which he 
himself had builded for an armory; the burnished 
housetops that broke, like waves, beside it; and the 
massive walls that in their rough, strong setting closed 
round "The joy of the whole earth" 1 like a jewel. 
And still further on beyond, he could catch the glim- 
mer of that goodly land, which was " the glory of all 
lands," 2 now groaning beneath its blessed burden of 
"milk and honey"; and glowing with more golden 
tints than gladdened the eye of Moses, when his 
dying gaze was fixed upon it from "the top of 
Pisgah." 3 

Seeing all this, David might have felt and said, 
"This goodly land is mine, this is my continuing 
city, this is my abiding home : here will I dwell and 
delight myself all the days of my life." Bat with a 
truer feeling, and a more faithful utterance, he turns 
his eyes away from these vanities, and lifts up his 
voice to his companion God, saying, "I am a stranger 
with Thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were." 
His heart was not at home amid the glories that sur- 
rounded him ; but, weary with the loneliness of roy- 
alty, it panted for that highest and happiest home 
where it might be at rest indeed, and in truth, 
and forever. Earth Avas its sojourning place ; heaven 
1 Lam. ii. 15. 2 Ezek. xx. 6. 3 Deut. xxxiv. 1. 



THE TRAVELLING STRANGER. 1 3 

the abiding city towards which all its aspiration and 
its effort tended. 

Such strangers, in every sense of the word, were 
Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, the pilgrim fathers 
spoken of in the text who " sojourned in the land of 
promise, as in a strange country." 1 The altar and 
the pillar, the staff and the tent, were indeed their 
true, and often their only, possessions; "with my 
staff I passed over this Jordan ; " 2 and by their 
daily lives and visible movements they proved the 
characters to which they were called: "For they 
that say such things declare plainly that they seek 
a country." 3 

Such strangers are Christians now, for Christian 
experience is mainly the same everywhere and in all 
ages. When by the grace of God we are passing 
over from the "old man" into the "new man," the 
heart beats responsively at every step to the lan- 
guage of the text. No outward sign of moving tent, 
or wayworn feet, or supporting staff, may mark its 
progress; but in its inner life, and along the pil- 
grimage of personal experience, these things are as 
truly represented as in the early nomadic days. And 
although about the Christian now, as about the life 
of David, there may seem to gather attachments, and 
earth to wear a look of permanence, still, in his heart 
of hearts, he feels as David felt, that he is a stranger 
here and a sojourner. ■ 

In the character thus portrayed the true Chris- 
tian finds his counterpart, and lifted into a standard, 
' Heb. xi. 9. * Gen. xxxii. 10. 3 Heb. xi. 14. 



14 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

the confession in the text becomes the test of his 
sincerity. 

In a broad and comprehensive sense, it is true of all 
the inhabitants of the world, that they are strangers 
and sojourners on its surface. The present generation 
knows not the generation that preceded it, nor can 
it tell the features of the generation that is to come 
after it. From his birth to his burial man lives in 
a strange land. He wanders to and fro, gazing cu- 
riously up at the dome of the universe, gilded with 
the light of suns, or sprinkled with the dust of stars. 
He looks out on eternity as from the shore of some 
wide sea, watching the great tide of life as it ebbs 
and flows at his feet; but knowing nothing of the 
mystery or the meaning of its motion. He picks up 
some pebble truth, or finds the pearly shell of some 
secondary cause, admires, wonders, and listens to 
its music, but comprehends it not. He does not 
even know himself, the language of his own being 
he can not understand. His very thoughts, purposes, 
and impulses are marvels to his mind; and so, living, 
wondering, wandering, toiling, fretting, a stranger to 
the world in which he lives, a stranger to himself, 
each lonely individual fills out his little sojourn here, 
and straight is seen no more. 

But while in reality the character of the stranger 
may justly attach to all, it is peculiarly the Chris- 
tian's own. He indeed lives in the world, but is not 
of it. By his first birth he is a citizen of earth, but 
by his second birth from above, he becomes a native 
of the " better country," and henceforth heaven is his 



THE TRAVELLING STRANGER. 1 5 

home. Beyond time and space, and above the little 
hum of things of sense, his adoring mind catches glim- 
merings of its distant glory, and murmurings of the 
blessed music of its courts. " I heard a voice from 
heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the 
voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of 
harpers harping with their harps: and they sung as 
it were a new song before the throne, and before the 
four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn 
that song but the hundred and forty and four thou- 
sand, which were redeemed from the earth." 1 

Who wonders, then, in view of heaven's everlast- 
ing blessedness, and the immortal thoughts and de- 
lightful occupations that will engross him there, the 
Christian's heart should grow weary with his resi- 
dence on earth, and indifferent to the petty schemes, 
and cheap concerns, that bubble up and burst around 
him here? Who Avonders that the stranger feeling, 
as of one alone in a foreign land, should control and 
crush his spirit; "for all his days are sorrows," 2 and 
his sojourn here the cruel absence from a happy 
home ? 

The home feeling of the heart ! who does not know 
something of its gentleness and its power? How lov- 
ingly it garners up and invests with a kind of sacred- 
ness scenes and associations which but for it would 
have no permanence in the mind! How it links men 
to localities, binds them in families, and becomes the 
very life of the nation ! What spot on earth has such 
radiant sunshine resting on it as that which gilds and 
• Rev. xiv. 2, 3. 2 Eccl. ii. 23. 



1 6 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

glorifies the dear acres round our early childhood's 
home ? In memory's never fading light the well, the 
brook, the trees, the grass, the flowers seem purer, 
sweeter, nobler, greener, brighter there than we have 
found them elsewhere, and we who played about 
them seem to ourselves less sinful then than now. 

Home, how sweet it sounds ! What a bundle of 
myrrh it is ! and behold, and count up if you can, 
how many loves are bound up in it! There is a 
mother's love, and a father's love, and a sister's love, 
and a brother's love, and the love of kindred scarcely 
less dear than a mother's own. Is it any wonder 
that the heart should nestle in a place so full of love 
as this, or that its recollection is always so fresh ? 
After years of absence, from the uttermost parts of 
the earth, it reaches back with an earnest longing 
that can not be satisfied, and under the influence of 
a spell that can not be broken. 

A simple sound, the sight of some familiar article, 
by reason of their home associations have unmanned 
the stoutest hearts. Their native airs, when played 
before them in foreign countries, have rendered whole 
regiments of fierce, stern soldiers unfit for duty. Even 
death itself has often followed from excessive longing 
to return to one's native land. To be at home, is the 
soldier's wish from the tented field; and on the eve 
of battle, a few moments are snatched from the busy 
hours to write letters to the loved ones at home. To 
be at home, is the earnest desire of the suffering 
invalid, hurrying from some more friendly clime to 
which he had vainly gone in quest of health; and 



THE TRAVELLING STRANGER. \J 

nerving every flagging energy, he dies contented, if 
only he may catch the sight, or lay himself beneath 
the old roof-tree at last. 

Now, we need scarcely say that whatever shows the 
power and the depth of feeling binding men to their 
earthly home illustrates the real Christian's deeper 
love and yearning for his heavenly home. We have 
always regarded home as the best earthly image of 
heaven. It is that part of paradise Avhich was never 
lost, and to this day it is the remnant and the emblem 
of Eden's bliss. Home and heaven are not so far sep- 
arated as we sometimes think. Nay, they are not 
separated at all, for they are both in the same great 
building. Home is the lower story, and is located 
down here on the ground floor: heaven is above 
stairs, in the second and "third" 1 stories; and as one 
after another the family is called to come up higher, 
that which seemed to be such a strange place begins 
to wear a familiar aspect; and when at last not one 
is left below, the home is transferred to heaven, and 
heaven is home. And while we are absent from it, 
it can not be expected that we should be perfectly 
happy. Away from home ! away from heaven ! away 
from our best Father ! away from our best Brother ! 
away from our best Comforter ! away from our dear- 
est kindred, who have gone to dwell above in light 
and love and peace and "joy unspeakable and fall 
of glory," 2 is it any wonder if we are homesick some- 
times; and that our experience is that of a stranger 
in a strange land ? 

« II Cor. xii. 2. * I Pet. i. 8. 

2 



1 8 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

But the stranger is not the exact image of the 
Christian. Pie is something more than a stranger, 
and so another word is added, by the Psalmist, to 
make the portrait more complete, — " I am a stranger 
and a sojourner." This last word though near of kin 
to the first is not quite the same. There is a shade 
of difference in its meaning, which will give a little 
more of coloring to the picture, and help to make it a 
more lifelike likeness of the Man of God. A stranger 
is one who belongs to another countiy. A sojourner 
is a temporary resident. The one may have a per- 
manent abode in a strange land; but the moving 
tent must needs be the habitation of the other, who 
is always and everywhere a wayfaring man. 

Such being the signification of these words, both 
were needed in order to describe the Christian, who 
is a stranger and a sojourner. Or, if we may put the 
two words in one, we would say, he is a pilgrim. A 
man with the shoes on his feet, the staff in his hand, 
and the bundle on his back; a travelling stranger, 
a man of another country going home, a pilgrim on 
the world's highway. His back is turned on the 
earth, and his face is set towards heaven. Here he 
is a stranger. Up in heaven he will be no more a for- 
eigner but a fellow-citizen. Here he has the heart 
of a stranger. Up in heaven he will have the heart 
of a child at home. Here he is a sojourner and dwells 
awhile in a shelter tent. Up in heaven he will be 
a wayfaring man no more, but abide always in 
the house of many mansions. "Weary-footed, weary- 
hearted, and often weeping, is it any wonder if he 



THE TRAVELLING STRANGER. 1 9 

longs for the time to come, when he shall put off his 
pilgrim shoes, at the gate of heaven, and enter his 
Father's house, — his sweetest, best, and most blessed 
home. 

Perhaps some of you may be able to sympathize 
with him in his earnest desire to reach the heavenly 
country. You had been away from home for a long 
season, and you can not forget how anxious you 
were to return, especially after the journey was com- 
menced. The swiftest conveyance was too slow for 
you, when you were coming home to hear your fa- 
ther's welcome, your mother's soft, sweet, loving voice, 
and your sister's gentle greeting. To your heart the 
Avings of love were given, and it went on ahead, and, 
in the special express train, you were slowly coming 
after. But that sweet home is not half so sweet as 
heaven. It may be happy now, but it must be un- 
happy in a little while. Not many days hence the 
cheerful circle will be in tears around an empty cradle, 
or in an empty chamber. 

Come with me to a father's house, it may be your 
father's house, we will tarry but a moment. It is the 
morning of Thanksgiving Day. The children and 
the children's children are all come home to keep the 
feast. All did I say ? Let me turn to the family rec- 
ord in the old family Bible, and call their names and 
see. Joseph? "Joseph is not." Simeon? "Simeon 
is not." 1 And, sorer still, there is a prophetic flush 
on his cheek that threatens to take dear little Benja- 
min away. 

1 Gen. xlii. 3G. 



20 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

Such is the earthly home. To-day the golden chain 
is unbroken, and every chair is occupied. All the 
"olive plants" 1 are growing round about the table, 
beautiful and goodly to look to. To-morrow one is 
missing here, and another is missing there. But the 
heavenly home is always happy. Not one is missing 
there. There is no time there "to pluck up that 
which is planted." 2 There is no cemetery near the 
New Jerusalem, nor are there any graves anywhere 
in the "better country." And the house of many 
mansions will never be a house of mourning. " God 
shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there 
shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, 
neither shall there be any more pain: for the former 
things are passed away." 3 "They shall not hunger 
nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: 
for He that hath mercy on them shall lead them, 
even by the springs of water shall He guide them." * 

But the best, the brightest, and the most beauti- 
ful gem yet remains to be taken from the casket of 
the text. The previous thoughts were pearls, and 
very precious, but this last is the most precious of 
all, " I am a stranger with Thee." 

With whom ? with my pilgrim companions by the 
way? No. With those who are at home in my 
house? Not so: "I am a stranger with Thee," my 
best Father in heaven, my best Friend upon earth. 
A stranger with God. What a transporting thought ! 
What a great and glorious truth! King David was 

J Ps. cxxviii. 3. 2 Eccl. iii. 2. 

3 Rev. xxi. 4. * Isa. xlix. 10. 



THE TRAVELLING STRANGER. 21 

on his bended knees, his face was turned up toward 
heaven, when this bundle of myrrh fell from his 
anointed lips: "Hear my prayer, Lord, and give 
ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears: 
for I am a stranger with Thee, and a sojourner, as 
all my fathers were." 

This part of the text presents on its surface this 
splendid, soul-filling, and sublime truth: 

"Awake, asleep, at home, abroad, 
I am surrounded still with God." 

Blessed be His name, He is near enough to hear my 
lowest whisper; and plenteous enough to supply all 
my wants. His wisdom is mine to direct me in the 
way that I should go, and His power is mine to pro- 
tect me in the time of danger; "For the Lord God 
is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and 
glory: no good thing will He withhold from them 
that walk uprightly."' This is the surface thought 
of these words of David's prayer: "I am a stranger 
with Thee." It floats and shines like amber on the 
ocean, and when we are strangers in a strange land, 
it is .confessedly comforting to think, to feel, and to 
know that we are guided and guarded by that God 
who hath promised to "Keep the feet of His saints," 3 
and make their shoes out of "iron and brass," 3 and 
who is always saying unto them, "There shall not a 
hair of your head perish." 4 

But, deeper down in the text, there is a dearer 

• Ps. Ixxxiv. 11. 2 1 Sam. jj. 9. 

3 Deut. xxxiii. 25. * Luke xxi. 18. 



22 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

thought than this. "I am a stranger with Thee:" 
that is, if I may express it so, Thou, my God, art my 
travelling companion, "alone, and yet I am not alone, 
because the Father is with me ; " ' the Father of my 
Lord Jesus, and my Father. He shares my pilgrim- 
age, and helps me over every hill of difficulty. " Who 
is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning 
upon her Beloved?" 2 

You remember when the two burdened and bro- 
ken-hearted disciples were returning to the village 
of Emmaus, "Jesus Himself drew near, and went 
with them." 3 And as they walked their sorrow was 
turned into joy. The engaging and entertaining 
Stranger charmed away their sadness, and changed 
their pain into pleasure. His timely and tender con- 
versation, concerning Himself, caused their hearts to 
burn within them, and before they were aware they 
were at their journey's end. And we need not tell 
you that an agreeable travelling companion will 
smooth the roughest road, and make it seem much 
shorter than it really is. 

One of the brightest pages in the Old Testament 
is that which records the affectionate friendship of 
David and his Jonathan. They loved each other, as 
they loved their own souls, and seemed to have but 
one heart and one mind. They lived for each other, 
and labored for each other with a self-sacrificing 
spirit, as remarkable as it is rare; and it was the 
chief end of each, to promote the other's happiness. 
And when David learned that his leal-hearted friend 
> John xvi. 32. * Cant. viii. 5. 3 Luke xxiv. 15. 



THE TRAVELLING STRANGER. 23 

was slain in battle, in that lamentation, every letter 
of which seems a tear, he said, "I am distressed for 
thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant hast thou 
been unto me: thy love to me was wonderful, pass- 
ing the love of women." 1 Without controversy they 
twain were the truest yoke-fellows that ever shared 
each other's joys and sorrows ; and if David had been 
speaking to Jonathan in the text, there would have 
been much sweet comfort to the Psalmist in the 
thought that he had the companionship of such a 
tried and never failing-friend. But Jehovah was a 
better friend than Jonathan, and He, His own self, 
was David's fellow-traveller; a stranger, with the 
man after His own heart, and a sojourner. 

Do you not remember well the manner in which 
the children of Israel journeyed through the wilder- 
ness with their God ? The tabernacle and the tent 
travelled both of them together; and wherever the 
one was pitched, there the other was pitched also; 
the tent always in the shadow of the tabernacle. 
And have you not often read their morning and 
(•veiling prayer while on their march? How as the 
ark set forward Moses said, "Rise up, Lord, and let 
thine enemies be scattered: and let them that hate 
Thee llee before Thee: "'- just as if Jehovah had been 
t.iiiying with them where they tarried; and He had. 
And how again when the ark rested the prayer went 
up, "Return, Lord, unto the many thousands of 
[srael:" 8 just as if Jehovah had Ween travelling in 
their company. And so lie had; with His pilgrim 
' II Sam. i. 2G. * Num. x. 35. 3 Num. x. 36. 



24 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

shoes on His mighty feet, and His pilgrim staff in 
His mighty hand; a wayfaring God with His way- 
faring people and their companion in tribulation, 
according to the promise, " My presence shall go 
with thee and I will give thee rest." y 

What then if we are in the wilderness ! Our 
wilderness God is with us here to choose all our 
changes? And what if we are so thoroughly weary, 
since we nightly pitch the moving tent beside the 
moving tabernacle, and both a day's march nearer 
home. Our pilgrim God, glory be to His blessed 
name, will have no temple to dwell in while His pil- 
grim people have nothing better than a tent. It was 
not till after David had a " house of cedars " 2 that 
David's Lord ceased to dwell "under curtains." "I 
have not dwelt in any house since the time that 
I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, 
even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a 
tabernacle." 3 

It is a pleasant Hebrew fancy that gives to every 
child of God a guardian angel to attend him in all 
his ways. It is a precious Scripture truth that the 
angels are " all ministering spirits, sent forth to min- 
ister for them who shall be heirs of salvation." 4 As 
we pitch our tents day after day, it is pleasant to 
think the angels encamp round about us ; but if we 
are His "peculiar people," 5 God Himself is our Guar- 
dian Angel and better to hold us up, and help us on 
our way, than all the heavenly hosts. 

1 Exod. xxxiii. 14. 2 I Chron. xvii. 1. s II Sam. vii. 6. 
* Heb. i. 14. s I Peter ii. 9. 



THE TRAVELLING STRANGER. 2$ 

Dearly beloved, such is the real meaning of the 
text, as we understand it. Behold, what a sweeten- 
ing branch it brings for all the bitter waters by the 
way! "Ye know the heart of a stranger," 1 how sad, 
how silent it sometimes is ! " How shall we sing the 
Lord's song in a .strange land? " 2 But our hearts are 
sad and our harps are silent only, when we forget 
our fellow Traveller, the One who says, "Lo, I am 
with you alway, even unto the end of the world." 3 

It is very pleasant to think that we are strangers 
together. Our companionship with one another helps 
to relieve that feeling of loneliness that often comes 
over us, like a cloud, and we can comfort and cheer 
one another along our weary earth way. But this 
better, this blessed, this Bible thought, that we are 
strangers with God, causes our brimming cup to over- 
flow. Oh how much better it is, to be a stranger 
here with God, and have a home in heaven, than to 
be a citizen of this poorer country without God, and 
be an emigrant in eternity. Dear brethren, I give 
you joy, and I ask you to rejoice with me, because 
though we be strangers in a strange land, we are 
going home and Jehovah- Jireh, Jehovah- Jesus, is 
going with us, and He will never leave us nor for- 
sake us; "For this God is our God forever and ever: 
II<- will be our guide even unto death." * 

I may not close without a word of warning to 
myself, and my companions "in tribulation, and in 
fche kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ." 5 Dearly 

1 Exod. xxiii. 9. 2 Ps. cxxxvii. 4. 3 Mat. xxviii. 20. 
* Ps. xlviii. 14. fi Rev. i. 9. 



26 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

beloved, we are wayfaring men, and as such it is 
better for us not to be burdened with too much bag- 
gage. A staff, a pair of shoes, and one coat are all 
that we really need. Come then, and "let us lay 
aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily 
beset;" 1 and, ou our journey home, let us take with 
us only such other things as we can conveniently 
carry. " A good conscience " 2 is never cumbersome; 
and "love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, 
goodness, faith, meekness, temperance," 3 are more 
in number, and better every way, than the "six 
wings " * of the seraphim. And always and every- 
where, let us wait on the Lord: "He giveth power to 
the faint; and to them that have no might He in- 
creaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and 
be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: 
but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their 
strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; 
they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall 
walk, and not faint." 5 

Some strangers, after a short season of homesick- 
ness, are so bewitched with the beauty of the charm- 
ing country through which they are passing, that 
they cast away the stakes and curtains of their 
tents, and gather stones and cut down trees, and 
build themselves magnificent mansions, and in a 
little while they lose all love for the heavenly home, 
toward which their faces once were set. Strange to 
say, in this " snare of the fowler," 6 King Solomon 

> Heb. xii. 1. 2 Heb. xiii. 18. s Gal. v. 22, 23. 

■» Isa. vi. 2. 6 i sa . x i. 28-31. 6 Ps. xci. 3. 



THE TRAVELLING STRANGER. 2J 

was taken. On the grandest scale, he tried to make 
for himself a happy home in this world, and in the 
saddest book of the Bible he has left on record the 
result of his experiment, showing clearly that the 
wisest man was the greatest fool. " I made me great 
works ; I builded me houses ; I planted me vineyards : 
I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees 
in them of^all kind of fruits: I made me pools of 
water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth 
forth trees: I got me servants and maidens, and had 
servants born in my house ; also I had great posses- 
sions of great and small cattle above all that were in 
Jerusalem before me : I gathered me also silver and 
gold, and peculiar treasure of kings and provinces : I 
gat me men singers and women singers, and the 
delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, 
and that of all sorts. So I was great, and increased 
more than all that Avere before me in Jerusalem: 
also my wisdom remained with me. And whatsoever 
mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld 
not my heart from any joy: for my heart rejoiced in 
all my labor: and this was my portion of all my 
labor. Then I looked on all the works that my 
hands had wrought, and on the labor that I had 
labored to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexa- 
tion of spirit, and there was no profit under the 
sun." ' 

My beloved brethren, if any of you are tempted to 
do likewise, let me warn you to have a care and count 
the cost. " Set your affection on things above, not 
' Eccl. ii. 4-11. 



28 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

on things on the earth." 1 Forget not that you are 
travelling strangers, and fix not your habitation here 
below, lest you learn at last, too late, and to your 
eternal loss, that he builds too low who builds be- 
neath the skies. 

"Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, 
from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 
Grace be with all them that love the Lord Jesus 
Christ in sincerity. Amen." 2 

i CoL iii. 2. 2 Eph. vi. 22-24. 



MARAH AND ELIM. 



CHAPTER II. 

"And when they came to Mar ah, they could not drink of the waters 
of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called 
Mar ah. And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall 
we drink ? And he cried unto the Lord; and the Lord showed him a 
tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made 
sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he 
proved them, and said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the 
Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in His sight, and wilt 
give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put 
none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the -Egyp- 
tians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee. And they came to Elim, 
where were twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm trees: 
and they encamped there by the waters." — E.XODUS xv. 23-27. 

IN the beginning of the way of the wilderness 
there are two very interesting places called Ma- 
rah and Elim. They are interesting in themselves, as 
they are the first two stations at which the Israel- 
it'- stopped in their journey from Egypt to Canaan. 
They are interesting in their associations; the burn- 
ing sands, the bitter waters, and the sweetening tree 
of the one — the green pastures, the shadowing palms, 
and the salutary wells of the other, were so graven 
on the hearts and minds of the covenant people, that 
they could never be forgotten. 

But to us they are interesting, especially, because 
they are so emblematic of our life. Our sorrows and 



32 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

our joys; our pains and our pleasures; our distress- 
ing retreats and our delightful resting-places, are 
all faithfully foreshadowed by these tAvo memorable 
places, in the margin of the wilderness, Marah and 
Elim. 

As the skilful artist, in making a good portrait, 
finds it essentially necessary to use the dark and 
bright colors alternately, so the Divine Artist dips 
His pencil, by turns, in Marah and Elim. In Marah 
first, aiid the background is laid in darkness black 
as midnight, and then in Elim, and the blackness is 
relieved with the colors of the rainbow. Marah and 
Elim, here and there; first the one, and then the 
other; the bitter, and then the sweet; the sorrow, 
and then the joy; the house of mourning, and then 
the house of feasting; and these, now and then, all 
our journey through. "The evening and the morn- 
ing were the first day: and the evening and the 
morning were the sixth day." 1 

We propose to direct your attention to these two 
places, Marah and Elim, to which we are coming in 
such quick succession, and where, even now, some 
of our moving tents may be pitched, believing that 
we shall see ourselves in the waters of both, and 
praying that their timely lessons may be learned 
more perfectly. If by any means Ave could consider 
them in one sermon, we would be glad to do so, be- 
cause they are so intimately connected. But furnish- 
ing, as they do, such an abundance of material for 
instruction, we shall be obliged to put them -asunder 
• Gen. i. 5, 31. 



MAR AH AND ELIM. 33 

for the short space of time between our services ; and 
taking the first by itself alone, Marah shall be our 
theme this morning. 

At Marah the Israelites were sorely disappointed. 
Almost immediately after their thanksgiving service, 
on the shore of the Red Sea, which they had crossed 
in safety, they continued their mysterious march. 
Their divinely directed course lay through a desti- 
tute region of country which was sandy and stony, 
by turns, and hard to travel; and sorer still, it was 
"a land of drought and of the shadow of death;" 1 
and for the space of three days they found no water. 
We do not suppose that they were entirely desti- 
tute of water for so long a time; because in such a 
case many of them must have perished. The record 
simply says that, "they went three days in the wil- 
derness and found no water." 3 They crossed no run- 
ning stream, they discovered no gushing spring. 

Before starting from the sea-shore they had doubt- 
less filled their leathern bottles with water enough to 
serve them for awhile; but at last their scanty supply 
is quite exhausted, and they begin to be tormented 
with thirst. Little companies are sent out, in every 
direction along their way, to search for springs; but 
they ;ill return with the same evil report, that none 
can be found. Often the interminable multitude may 
be seen halting and digging wells in the sand; but 
they are all wells without water. Many of the people 
are already In 'ginning to show signs of anguish. The 
blazing sun above is pouring downright embers all 
' Jer. ii. C. 2 Exod. xv. 22. 

3 



34 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

the day; and the burning sands below are sending 
back the scorching beams, and betwixt these two 
flaming fires they are almost consumed. Water! 
water ! water ! is the universal cry. But alas ! there 
is no water. Slowly, silently, and sadly they press 
on after the pillared cloud, "faint yet pursuing." 1 
The flocks are panting, the beasts are groaning, 
the cattle are oppressed, and millions of men, women' 
and children are positively perishing. Their eyes 
grow dim, and they are dizzy. Fever races along- 
all their veins; and their parched tongues are cleav- 
ing to their mouths. They can scarcely speak; they 
can scarcely stand, but still they stagger on hoping 
against hope. And just here the good news, that 
their sufferings will soon be over, runs along the reel- 
ing line. Behold, the bushes yonder betoken some- 
thing good ! Yes, there is water there, for the slant- 
ing rays of the setting sun are glancing from its 
polished surface now. The very tidings are refresh- 
ing, and their strength is greatly revived. Their 
tongues are loosened, and their step seems quite 
elastic, as, with hope beating high in every bounding 
heart, and joy bursting forth from every lip, they 
hasten to their saviour spring. But stop ! What 
means that mighty groan from the great multitude ? 
What means this mourning and lamentation here? 
Why the water is bitter and they can not drink it. 
"When they came to Marah, they could not drink 
of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: there- 
fore the name of it was called Marah." 

1 Judges viii. 4. 



MARAH AND ELIM. 35 

Similar disappointments often happen in the jour- 
ney of life. There are Marahs, more than we jsan 
number, along the path of our pilgrimage. The places 
where we expect to find nothing but pleasure are only- 
places of pain. When gray hairs are coming here 
and there upon his head, the prosperous man of busi- 
ness retires from the active duties of life ; and hoping 
to pass the remnant of his days in elegant leisure, 
he builds a palace for his pride ; but before the golden 
mansion is quite finished, an unexpected turn in the 
wheel of fortune makes him a bankrupt, and his last 
days are spent, as a sigh, in the poor-house. 

"That righteous man" 1 Lot was rich enough before 
he parted with Abraham, but as his riches increased, 
he set his heart on them, and desiring to become still 
more wealthy he "pitched his tent toward Sodom;" 2 
but he went from peace to war, from freedom to cap- 
tivity, from the very gate of heaven to the vesti- 
bule of hell. From the first day that he set his face 
towards the cities of the plain he went from bad 
In worse; from honor to dishonor; from wealth to 
poverty. All his houses and flocks and herds were 
burned with " brimstone and fire from the Lord out 
of heaven ; " 3 and all his lands, and city lots, were 
buried beneath the Dead Sea. 

When Naomi with her husband and her two sons 
emigrated to the land of Moab, she doubtless thought 
Ik 1- prospects would be improved. And there seemed 
to be a good reason for leaving her pleasant home 
in Bethlehem, for the times were hard in Canaan, 
' II Pot. ii. 8. 2 Gen. xiii. 12. » Gen. xix. 24. 



36 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

" there was a famine in the land." ' But in the land 
of plenty, to which she went, there was nothing in 
store for her but poverty and affliction. There she 
lost all her property, there she buried Elimelech 
her husband, and there she buried Mahlon and Chi- 
lion, both of them. And when she came back to 
Bethlehem, so changed, her friends scarcely knew 
her; "they said is this Naomi? And she said unto 
them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the 
Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. I went 
out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again 
empty: why then call me Naomi, seeing the Lord 
hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath 
afflicted me." 3 

1 have sometimes gone out of a warm afternoon 
in June, and before I returned the wind shifted to 
the north, and the weather felt as cold as any day 
in January. Such great and sudden changes in the 
temperature are always unfavorable to the health of 
the body. And when in one short day unlooked-for 
adversity comes in the place of prosperity, it seems 
like a little winter in the summer season; and the 
health of the mind is so badly broken that it can not 
be recovered. When we see a sorrow coming we are 
in a measure prepared for it; but when it comes in 
the twinkling of an eye we are overwhelmed; and 
if when we are looking for gladness, grief comes in 
its place, we are disappointed and distressed. A few 
years ago, I spent the Sabbath in a neighboring city 
where I once resided, and as I was entering the sanc- 
1 Ruth i. 1. 2 Ruth i. 19-21. 



MAR AH AND ELIM. 37 

tuaiy, a stranger put a letter in my hand which read 
on this wise: 

" Dear Brother : — Will you please come and see us 
as soon as you can? Yesterday we were expecting 
our only son. He was returning from Port Hudson 
with his regiment, and we have just received a tele- 
gram informing us that he died in the car near Buf- 
falo last evening. Do come and see us. You do not 
know us, but we know you, and often attended your 
church. Our pastor is not at home, and we saw by 
the papers that you were to be in the city to-day. 
Do come and see us if you can." 

Guided by the address which was given in the 
letter, I went to see that smitten household as soon 
as the morning worship was ended. And such des- 
perate Borrow as I witnessed then and thei-e is be- 
yond all telling. Such mourning and lamentation 
and bitter weeping I have never beheld either before 
or since. Had their dear son been slain in battle, — 
that is what they had been fearing, and they would 
have been prepared in some degree, for the sad tid- 
ings, — or if he had expired in the hospital, it had not 
been so beart-breaking, because such thoughts were 
often Hitting through their minds. But he had passed 
saiclv through the perils of the war, and through 
tin- perils of the climate, and was on his journey 
home, and when his parents were preparing to re- 
ceive him joyfully they only received his dead body 
in a collin. " When I looked for good, then evil 



38 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

came upon me: and when I waited for light, there 
came darkness." 1 

The peculiar people murmured at Marah. It is a 
sad thing that they should have done so, but it is 
no surprising thing. It is just like human nature to 
complain under such circumstances; nor can Ave find 
it in our hearts to blame them in terms of great 
severity, as some have done. Indeed, we can not 
help sympathizing with them, and would be glad, 
not only to forgive, but to forget the sin which they 
committed at Marah. It is rather wonderful, we 
think, that they did not murmur sooner, thirst is 
such a cruel thing. But, to their praise be it spoken, 
during all those terrible days in which they found no 
water, it does not appear that they uttered one word 
of complaint. In our opinion they did not murmur 
so much for thirst, tormenting as that must have 
been, but rather because their hopes which had been 
raised so high by the sight of water were now so sud- 
denly cast down by its unexpected bitterness. The 
transition was greater than they could bear, and as 
they dashed the tantalizing draught from their disap- 
pointed lips, we must not judge them too harshly, if 
for a moment they lost their temper, and " murmured 
against Moses, saying, ' What shall we drink ? ' " 

It is interesting to notice, in this connection, that 
neither Moses nor God reproved the people here, as 
they did for similar sins committed on subsequent 
occasions. We do not mean to say that the Israel- 
ites are not worthy of some blame for murmuring 
' Job xxx. 26. 



MA RAH AND ELIM. 39 

at Marah; but we do mean to say, emphatically, that 
where God is silent, man should hold his peace ; and 
especially when by pronouncing sentence on others 
he condemns himself. "Therefore thou art inexcusa- 
ble, man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for 
wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thy- 
self; for thou that judgest doest the same things." 1 

It is greatly to be regretted that the lessons of 
God's loving-kindness which His people had learned 
in Egypt, and still more recently, at the Red Sea, 
were forgotten so soon; and that while the song of 
Moses was lingering on their tongues, and the sound 
of Miriam's timbrel was still ringing in their ears, 
th"V should have spoken unadvisedly with their lips. 
But, in the judgment of charity, being almost beside 
themselves by reason of their terrible sufferings and 
dreadful disappointment, they should be excused and 
forgiven, for not cheering one another with the as- 
BUrance that the same mighty power that made the 
waters of the sea passable could make the waters 
of a spring palatable. At any rate, we must pardon 
their murmuring at Marah, since without as much 
cause we all offend much more. 

How- often are we tossed into a tempest by the 
little fretting annoyances of every-day life! Some- 
times the most trivial perplexity makes us angry; 
ami, unable to endure the least disappointment, we 
murmur exceedingly. Long, long before we come 
1" Marah we begin to complain, and when we get 
there, how frequently we turn and go away in a 
1 Kom. ii. 1. 



40 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

rage ! Having the same good guide, to choose all 
our changes, and the same mighty God to go to for 
relief, still we murmur. We murmur at our lot, and 
at the locality to which a kind and wise Providence 
has led us. This wilderness is such a dreadful place ; 
this pilgrimage is so painful; and this cup is so bit- 
ter. Where shall we go? Plow shall we survive? 
and what shall we drink? When health, and wealth, 
and friends fail us, how frequently Ave are "found 
even to fight against God." 1 Instead of saying, "The 
Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed 
be the name of the Lord," 2 we rebel against His 
administration of our affairs as cruel and unkind. 
Instead of securing the sweetest peace, by submis- 
sion, we only aggravate our sufferings, and make 
ourselves more miserable by murmuring. 

We have known men to murmur more at the 
weather than the Israelites at Marah. The spring 
came too late; the summer was too dry; and the 
harvest was too rainy. When Csesar made a great 
feast for his friends, and the day proved unpropitious, 
he commanded those who came, "armed and carry- 
ing bows," 3 to go out and shoot their arrows towards 
the throne of Jupiter. When Ajax was wrecked at 
sea, he is represented as standing on a rock in mid 
ocean shaking his clenched fist up in the face of 
heaven; and in respect of murmuring against God, 
many Christian men are no better than these blinded 
heathen. "Father, forgive them; for they know not 
what they do."* 

i Acts v. 39. 2 Job i. 21. 3 p s . lxxviii. 9. 4 Luke xxiii. 34. 



MAR AH AND ELIM. 4 1 

" Why do you ask me what I like ? " said suffering- 
Simeon on his dying bed, "I am the Lord's patient 
and I can not but like every thing." Such is the 
noble, lamb-like, and lovely spirit with which every 
Christian should welcome the sickness and the health, 
the sorrow and the joy, the adversity and the pros- 
perity, that Providence may be pleased to mingle in 
his cup, knowing that " all things work together for 
good to them that love God." l 

Earnest and prevailing prayer was offered at Ma- 
rah — Moses knew where to turn, and what to do, 
in the great emergency; and so when the murmur- 
ing multitude came to him for relief he went to God ; 
"and he cried unto the Lord." He had learned by 
experience where help might be found. Only a few 
days ago, when the impassable mountains were on 
either side of them, and the deep sea was just before 
them, and Pharaoh's fifty thousand war chariots were 
thundering behind them, Moses went to God, and He 
brought them through "the midst of the sea upon 
tin- dry ground;"" and now, when a greater calamity 
is impending, he goes to God again. He does not 
tell the people to dig new wells in the desert, and 
try to filter the waters of Marah, and that, perhaps, 
in some such way they might get a little temporary 
relief There was scarcely time enough for such ex- 
pedients as worldly wisdom is always ready to sug- 
gest, because the whole congregation was at the 
point of perishing. A little longer and millions of 
dead bodies would blacken the desert for miles in 
1 Rom. viii. 28. 2 Exod. xiv. 22. 



42 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

every direction. But, " In the mount of the Lord it 
shall be seen " 1 that man's extremity is God's oppor- 
tunity. Moses knew this, and, sympathizing with his 
suffering kindred, he carried their case to the throne. 
His faith was never feeble, and never wavered: no 
not for a moment. He remembered the great prom- 
ise that God had made so many times, confirming it 
with an oath, that He would bring His covenant 
people into the land of Canaan : and therefore it was 
impossible that they should be left to perish, here 
and now, in this wilderness. 

The prayer of Moses on this occasion is not re- 
corded, but we can not help thinking that the prom- 
ise and the oath of God were its burden and its argu- 
ment. He prayed earnestly. The history intimates 
as much when it is said, " He cried unto the Lord." 
Besides, there was great need of earnestness now; 
and so "with strong crying and tears," 2 this great 
saint made known his requests unto Him who is able 
to save, even "to the uttermost." 3 I think I can 
almost see him on some neighboring hill wrestling 
with the Almighty. Now he prostrates himself on 
the ground, pleading the promise, and rising up, with 
holy boldness, he reminds God of His oath. Away 
yonder is the promised land, and lo, here thy people 
are perishing, O Lord! Wilt thou not do as thou 
hast said ? wilt thou not do as thou hast sworn ? 
"Do not abhor us, for thy name's sake; do not dis- 
grace the throne of thy glory: remember, break not 
thy covenant with us." 4 Then lifting up both his 

i Gen. xxii. 14. 2 Heb. v. 7. 3 Heb. vii. 25. * Jer. xiv. 21. 



MAR AH AND ELIM. 43 

hands, as if he would rend the heavens with his 
wonder-working rod, he cries on God to come down 
quickly and deliver His people from impending death: 
nor does he cease praying till an answer is received. 

From this interesting incident we should learn to 
pray in the time of sorrow. Marah is always near 
the mercy-seat, and right across the bitter spring we 
can join hands with Jesus. In every emergency we 
may go to the throne of grace, and, better still, we 
shall never go in vain. Oh how good it is to have 
"the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ" 1 to 
go to, when the waters are bitter, and cisterns are 
broken. "Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, 
that it can not save; neither His ear heavy, that it 
can not hear." 2 And abiding "under the shadow 
of the Almighty" 3 we can sing in all storms: "God 
is our refuge and strength; a very present help in 
trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth 
be removed, and though the mountains be carried 
into the midst of the sea; though the waves thereof 
roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake 
with the swelling thereof." 4 

With "precept upon precept, precept upon precept; 
line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there 
a little;" 5 the Bible teaches us to pray — "to pray and 
not to faint" — to "pray without ceasing." 7 Are any 
of you careful and troubled about many things? "Be 
careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and 

> Tit. ii. IS. 2 Isa. lix. 1. 3 Ps. xci. 1. 

< Ps. xlvi. 1, 2, 3. s i. sa . xxviii. 13. ° Luko xviii. 1. 
' I Thes. v. 17. 



44 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be 
made known unto God. And the peace of God which 
passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and 
minds through Christ Jesus." J " Is any among you 
afflicted? let him pray." 2 "Is any sick among you? 
let him call for the elders of the church; and let 
them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the 
name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith shall save 
the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he 
have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him." 3 
Are any of your hearts breaking, and bleeding, by 
reason of some recent bereavement? When John the 
Baptist was beheaded, "his disciples came, and took 
up the body and buried it, and went and told Jesus;"* 
go thou and do likewise; "He healeth the broken in 
heart, and bindeth up their wounds." 5 

And here, also, for our encouragement to pray, when 
troubles press, we have the practice of the holy men 
of old, as well as their inspired precepts. When 
" our father Jacob" was expecting on the morrow to 
meet with his angry brother Esau, "he wrestled" all 
night with the angel, and the next day " Esau ran to 
meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, 
and kissed him." c Hannah was " a woman of a sor- 
rowful spirit;" 7 but after she had prayed and "poured 
out her soul before the Lord," 8 she " went her way, 
and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad." 9 
Wl it'll the city of Jerusalem was beleagured by the 



Phil. iv. 6. 


2 Jas. v. 13. 


3 Jas. v. 14, 15. 


Mat. xiv. 12. 


6 Ps. cxlvii. 3. 


6 Gen. xxxiii. 4. 


I Sam. i. 15. 


s I Sam. i. 15. 


s I Sam. i. 18. 



MARAH AND ELIM. 45 

grand army of Assyria, and its fall seemed only a 
question of time, " Hezekiah prayed," 1 " and it came 
to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went 
out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hun- 
dred fourscore and five thousand: and when they 
arose early in the morning, behold, they were all 
dead." 2 "In those days was Hezekiah sick unto 
death." 3 But " he turned his face to the wall and 
prayed " again, and secured a second lease of life. 
"Out of the fish's belly" 4 Jonah prayed unto the 
Lord, and escaped safe to land "out of the belly 
of hell." Just as soon as he began to be tormented 
with the thorn in the flesh, Paul took it to the mercy- 
seat and prayed that it might be removed. "For this 
thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might de- 
part from me. And He said unto me My grace is 
sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect 
in -weakness." 5 

And, as if these, and many more that might be 
mentioned, were not enough, Jesus Himself in the 
sublimest examples of all history teaches us to pray 
in the time of trouble. Behold Him here in Geth- 
semane ! See how He suffers ! hear how He prays ! 
There is agony in both, and as the "great drops of 
blood"" are falling down to the ground the great 
petitions are going up to God. As He lifts the bitter 
cup to His pale and quivering lips, He prays that it 
may pass from Him. Again He tries to drink it, and 
again He prays that it may pass from Him. Once 

1 II Kind's xix. 15. * II Kings xix. 35. 3 II Kings xx. 1. 
< Jonah ii. 1. s n (jor. xii. 8, l J. " Luke xxii. 44. 



46 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

more, by the help of the strengthening angel, He 
brings it to His lips; and once again He pours out 
His soul in prayer, that it may pass, saying, " O my 
Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, ex- 
cept I drink it, thy will be done." * And see Him 
yonder nailed to the cross on Calvary! He is suf- 
fering, bleeding, dying, but yet He prays. His last 
breath is praying breath : " Father, into thy hands I 
commend my spirit." 2 "Let us therefore come boldly 
unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, 
and find grace to help in time of need." 3 

God healed the waters of Marah and they were 
good. In answer to the prayer of Moses, " the Lord 
showed him a tree, which when he had cast in the 
waters, the waters were made sweet." Long ago, the 
question was started whether this tree possessed cer- 
tain inherent properties which cured these waters of 
their unpleasant taste; and modern travellers, some 
of them innocently, others doubtless desiring to find 
a plant to supersede the miracle, have sought for a 
tree possessing the natural qualities of healing the 
bitter waters which still flow from Marah. They 
might just as well look along the banks of the Jor- 
dan expecting to find a tree which, when cut down 
and cast into the water, would make iron "swim." 4 

We do not deny that certain vegetables possess the 
peculiar properties which will purify unwholesome 
water, and have sometimes been used for that pur- 
pose. Indeed, it is stated, on the best authority, 

1 Matt. xxvi. 42. 2 Luke xxiii. 46. 

3 Heb. iv. 16. « II Kings vi. 6. 



MARAH AND ELIM. 47 

that the people who first discovered what is now the 
state of Florida corrected the stagnant waters of that 
region with the branches of sassafras : and it is a well- 
known fact that the first use of tea in China was to 
clarify the ponds and rivers of that country. More- 
over the waters of Marah have been analyzed, and 
the chemical examination shows that their bitterness 
is derived from the sulphate of lime, which they hold 
in solution, and which may be precipitated by any 
vegetable substance containing oxalic acid; leaving 
the beverage pure and pleasant to the taste. 

In spite of all that has been and may be said to 
the contrary, we can not believe that this tree pos- 
sessed any such virtue as has been claimed for it. 
It is easier to believe the miracle, were it a thou- 
sand times more wonderful, than to believe that any 
tree, however healing in its nature, could cure water 
6nough for three millions of people, with their nu- 
merous flocks and herds. We do not think that there 
was any more healing virtue in that tree than there 
was in "the salt" 1 with which Elisha cured the 
waters of Jericho; or in the "meal" 2 with which he 
healed the poisoned "pot of pottage;" or in "the 
clay" 3 with which Christ opened the blind man's 
eyes. The healing properties were not in the clay, 
nor in the meal, nor in the salt, nor in the tree; but 
in the Lord alone, and behind these apparent causes, 
"there was the hiding of His power." ' 

It may lie briefly mentioned, in this connection, 

' II Kin»s ii. 21. 2 n Kings iv. 41. 

3 John ix. 6. * Hab. iii. 4. 



48 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

that the Jewish writers generally, so far from recog- 
nizing any inherent virtues in this tree, are of the 
opinion that its quality was bitter, saying, " It is the 
manner of the blessed and holy God to make that 
which is bitter sweet by that which is bitter." 

Whether this tree was typical or not makes no 
matter: our thoughts turn naturally from it to the 
bitter death of Christ, on the bitter tree of the cross, 
by which our sorrows are sweetened and our sins 
forgiven; "surely He hath borne our griefs, and car- 
ried our sorrows" ' — not our guilt only but our grief as 
well. He who hath the "righteous Branch" 2 within 
him, that man has a perpetual antidote against all 
the ills of life. Fast as the bitter thing comes rush- 
ing in upon him, like a flood, its bitterness departs, 
and all the waves and billows of sorrow are changed 
into a sea of glory. 

The "Plant of Eenown"- 1 possesses more than a 
magic power. Its touch turns poverty into riches, 
sickness into health, and death into life everlasting. 
It makes long afflictions short, heavy afflictions light, 
and bitter afflictions sweet. And if only the lost 
sinner could take it with him, "to his own place,"* 
it would change hell into heaven. In proof of this 
blessed truth, we might point you to many of the suf- 
fering people of God, and ask you to listen to their 
"songs in the night," 5 and their "praises" 6 in prison, 
persecution, and death; but we prefer to appeal to 
your own personal experience. 

1 Isa. liii. 4. 2 Jer. xxiii. 5. 3 Ezek. xxxiv. 29. 

4 Acts i. 25. 6 Job. xxxv. 10. 6 Acts xvi. 25. 



MARAH AND ELIM. 49 

When you came to Marah long ago, your soul hath 
it still in remembrance, and the waters were like 
wormwood and gall, what was it, but "the Tree of 
Life," 1 whose healing leaves fell into the bitter spring 
and made a sweet cordial of your sorrows ? And 
again, when calamity came upon you with all its 
crushing weight, was it not the soft and gentle hand 
of "this same Jesus" 2 that bound up the "bruised 
reed" 3 it would not break? And when you were 
passing through the fires of some recent tribulation, 
oh tell me ! did He not come down from heaven 
again, bringing "beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for 
mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of 
heaviness?"* tuning the harp of your broken heart, 
lifting up "the daughters of music," 5 constraining 
you to make melody unto the Lord, in some such 
glowing words as these, "Most gladly therefore will 
I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of 
< Ihrist may rest upon me." 6 

It is peculiarly interesting to observe, in conclu- 
sion, that God would not permit His people to depart 
from Marah till Be had made a covenant with them; 
"there Be made for them a statute and an ordinance, 
and there Be proved them, and said, If thou wilt dil- 
igently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, 
and wilt do that which is right in I lis sight, and 
wilt give ear to Bis commandments, and keep all 
His statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon 

1 Rev. xxii. 2. 2 Acts i. 11. 

3 Mat. xii. 20. ■ < Isa. lxi. .'i. 
* Eccl. xii. L « II Cor. xii. 9. 



50 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

thee, which I have brought -upon the Egyptians: for 
I am the Lord that healeth thee." 

We believe that the Lord led the Israelites to 
Marah of a set purpose to communicate important 
instruction to them there. On condition of perfect 
obedience, He promises to preserve them from the 
plagues of Egypt, which, in another place, are ex- 
pressly threatened as the punishment of disobedi- 
ence. And the history shows that " God is no re- 
specter of persons," 1 as the rebellious Israelites fared 
no better than the rebellious Egyptians. Nor is it 
less important for us to know that God will deal 
with us now, according as we keep His command- 
ments. It is just as true in these days, as it ever 
was, that the path of obedience is pleasant and pros- 
perous ; " but the way of transgressors is hard." 2 
There may not be the same outward and visible 
signs of reward and retribution as in the former 
time; nevertheless, "whatsoever a man soweth, that 
shall he also reap." 3 

As a special reason to induce His people to obey 
His voice, and do that which was right, the Almighty 
closed the covenant with these words: "For I am the 
Lord that healeth thee ; " and " as in water face an- 
swereth to face," 4 so in Marah the Israelites now 
saw themselves. It reflected their own image, and 
in its bitterness they beheld their own bitterness. 
Not their sorrows only, but their sins as well : " I 
am the Lord that healeth thee : " not only thy bitter 

1 Acts x. 34. 2 Prov. xiii. 15. 

3 Gal. vi. 7. 4 Prov. xsvii. 19. 



MARAH AND ELIM. 5 I 

waters by the way, but thee thyself. Thy body of its 
plagues, and thy soul of the sickness of sin. 

And so, again, we are brought to Jesus, the healer 
of the hurt in the human heart. For, after all, the 
mind is its own Marah, and we carry about within us 
the bitter fountain of sin, which only Christ can cure. 
Of Him we read in one place, " He was wounded for 
our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities : 
the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and 
with His stripes we are healed." 1 And again in an- 
other place we read, " Unto you that fear my name 
shall the Sun of Eighteousness arise with healing in 
His wings." 2 If you are sick unto death, He can 
raise you up and give you length of days: and if 
you are sensible of sin He alone can make you clean : 
"None but Jesus can do helpless sinners good;" 
"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there 
is none other name under heaven given among men, 
whereby we must be saved." 3 Come then to Jesus, 
come just as you are, and come just now. Never 
mind tarrying to make yourself better, and say not 
to thy servant, " Go thy way for this time ; when 
I Live a convenient season, I will call for thee." 4 
"Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is 
the day of salvation." D Come ' now then, prostrate 
yourselves at the feet of Jesus and pray, and pray 
again for health and holiness; and while you are yet 
speaking your prayers shall be turned into praises, 
and you shall rise up singing, "Bless the Lord, 

i Isa. liii. 5. 2 Mai. iv. 2. 3 Acts iv. 12. 

* Acts xxiv. 25. & u Cor. vi. 2. 



5 2 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 



my soul: and all that is within me, bless His holy 
name. Bless the Lord, my soul, and forget not all 
His benefits: who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who 
healeth all thy diseases; who redeemeth thy life from 
destruction; who crowneth thee with loving-kindness 
and tender mercies; who satisfieth thy mouth with 
good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the 
eagle's." 1 

"Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abun- 
dantly above all that we ask or think, according to 
the power that worketh in us, unto Him be glory 
in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, 
world without end. Amen." 2 

1 Ps. ciii. 1-5. 2 £ph- iij. 20. 



ELIM AND MARAH. 



CHAPTER III. 

"And they came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water, and 
threescore and ten palm-trees: and they encamped there by the waters." 
Exodus xv. 27. 

MARAH and Elim are both in the same chapter, 
with not so much as a single verse between 
them. And, over in the book of Numbers, they are 
spoken of in the same short sentence; "They re- 
moved from Marah, and came unto Elim." 1 They 
were together in the mind of Moses, and he just 
transferred them from his memory to his history. 

Nor is it strange that these two interesting places 
should be so near together in the story of the exodus, 
because they almost touch each other in the wilder- 
nesfi itself' Both of them are in the same locality, 
between the adjacent parallels of latitude, and in the 
same longitude. They are so near together, that, 
in the neighboring lowlands, their waters may have 
met, and mingled, and flowed down in the same 
channel to the sea Indeed they are only about six 
short miles apart; and had it not been for the in- 
tervening sand hills, while the people of Israel were 
murmuring at Marah they might have seen the palm- 
trees of Elim waving their friendly welcome, and say- 
ing, "Here is the best water in the world." 
1 Num. xxxiii. 9. 



56 



BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 



"Tims near to each other are the bitter and the 
sweet of life, the sorrow and the joy of time ! " Both 
are in the same desert, and often follow each other 
in the progress of a single da}-. Deeply impressed 
with the close proximity of Marah and Elim, and the 
blending of the sorrows and the joys which they fore- 
shadow, a recent traveller says: "In token of this Ave 
broke off a small branch of palm from one of these 
Elim trees, and laying it on the similar branch which 
Ave had brought from Marah, Ave tied the tAvo to- 
gether, to be kept in perpetual memorial, not merely 
of the scenes, but of the truth Avhich they so vividly 
teach." 

In our personal experience Ave are coming ever 
and again to Marah and Elim, and their Avaters are 
ahvays Avelling up within us, to teach us the evil and 
the good of life. A Marah disappointing our desires 
to-day, an Elim more than meeting our expectations 
to-morroAv— a dark shadow in our chvelling at noon, 
a bright light shining on it at evening time— a great 
calamity crushing us here, a sAveet mercy coming 
yonder. And thrice happy would Ave be, if only we 
could endure patiently, ami enjoy thankfully, those 
things which a Avise and kind Providence is pleased 
to mingle in our cup: suffering as those Avho know 
that they shall one day rejoice: "Thou Avhich hast 
showed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me 
again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths 
of the earth. Thou shalt increase my greatness, and 
comfort me on every side:" 1 rejoicing as those who 
1 Ps. Ixxi. 20, 21. 



ELIM AND MAR AH. 57 

know that they shall one day suffer: "In the world 
ye shall have tribulation : " x and blessing God for 
both the bitter and the sweet, because both are good, 
both are useful, both are indispensable. 

" They came to Elim." Elim was a valley of con- 
siderable extent reposing, like an emerald gem, on 
the barren bosom of the desert through which the 
Israelites were passing. How glad they must have 
been to reach that welcome oasis ! Footsore, weary, 
and heavy laden, there they laid down their burdens, 
unloosed the latchet of their shoes, and gave them- 
selves to sweet repose. Having passed the place of 
patient endurance, they were now come to the place 
of positive enjoyment. 

By all accounts Elim was a little Eden in the wil- 
derness, and by far the loveliest spot to which the 
Hebrews came, in-all their wanderings, till they came 
;it lust to Canaan. Besides, it was now about the 
middle of the month of April: so that they came to 
this pleasacntest place in the wilderness, in the pleas- 
antesl season of the year. The winter was past, the 
rain was over and gone, and the time of the singing 
of birds was come. At every turn they felt the gush 
of vcn ml glue, on every hand they heard the music 
of God's own minstrelsy, and everywhere they saw 
the heavenly dress of the now-born j^ear. The grass 
was sprouting green for miles away between rejoic- 
ing hills on every side; and, as flic trees of the field 

clapped their hands, tin- showering blossoms fell and 

filled the air with fragrance, like as when an angel 

1 John xvi. 33. 



58 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

shakes his wings to scatter down the smell of heaven. 
By the surpassing loveliness of the scene, who can 
doubt that the Hebrews were reminded of the good 
land of Goshen, which they had lately left, a very 
section of which seemed to have been lifted across 
the lied Sea as a resting-place for them ? 

Elim is still a pleasant valley, and quite a desirable 
resting-place with the Arabian desert rangers. As 
the traveller will often hold on his weary way, long 
after dark, that he may spend the night at his favorite 
inn, so these " children of the bondwoman " ' press on, 
passing by all common stations, if by any means they 
may reach Elim, and rest awhile beneath its palm- 
trees and beside its wells of water. Most modern 
travellers speak of this region in the highest terms. 
We might quote the language of many, but one must 
suffice as a specimen of the whole. " There was even 
— delightful sight! a little grass, and birds were 
hopping about enjoying the rare luxury. The water 
trickling off, pursues its way some distance down 
the valley, forming a reedy marsh, interspersed with 
thickets of bushes and dwarf palm-trees, and a con- 
siderable quantity of tamarisks and other shrubs : and 
as there are also considerable masses of similar vege- 
tation above this point, there are probably several 
other springs which nourish it. Altogether it was a 
reviving sight in the thirsty desert." 

Along the path of our pilgrimage there are Elims, 
also, which seem like very Edens for their loneliness; 
where all is melody to charm the ear, beauty to de- 
i Gal. iv. 31. 



ELIM AND MA RAH. 59 

light the eye, and joy to rejoice the heart. And 
chiefest among ten thousand of these resting-places 
is the day of rest, "the Sabbath of the Lord thy 
God." x It contributed much to the happiness of our 
first parents in Paradise. As a remnant of Eden's 
bliss, it reminds us of the joy of our lost estate, and 
alleviates the sorrows of our present lot. It is also 
a sweet foretaste of the rest that remaineth for the 
people of God. In its brimming cup of blessing there 
is no bitter ingredient, every drop is sweet. It is 
one of "the days of heaven upon the earth," 2 in 
which the tired body and the toiling mind may re- 
lax their flagging energies, and restore their wasting 
strength, by resting from their labors. 

Without this green spot of shadowing palms, spark- 
ling waters, and necessary repose, what a barren, 
boundless, dry and thirsty land this world would be! 
Like a bow always bent, how soon the body would 
lose its elasticity, and the mind its strength: and 
how few and full of evil man's days would be! But, 
blessed be God, we are not without the Sabbath yet. 
This spiritual Elim is ours still, and we trust that it 
will be ours regularly, till it shall be ours always. 

'Id'- people found refreshment at Elim as well as 
]'>t : "They came to Elim, where were twelve wells 
of water and threescore and ten palm-trees." They 
doubtless did not remain long at Marah. The place 
was nut inviting. The whole region round about was 
the express image of desolation, a "waste howling 
wilderness." 3 There were no trees there to temper 
' Exod. xx. 10. 2 Deut. xi. 21. 3 Deut. xxxii. 10. 



60 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

the rays of the smiting sun, nor little hills to break 
the withering blast of the desert wind, nor grass for 
the cattle, nor good water to drink; for as the springs 
of Marah are bitter now, and have been for ages past, 
they were not permanently sweetened, but only for 
the great emergency. Touched by the healing tree 
the waters flowed pure and pleasant from the bitter 
fountain till all the people had quenched their thirst, 
and then probably they returned to their natural 
condition. 

But when the weary pilgrims came to Elim, there 
were palm-trees whose emerald crowns were casting 
friendly shadows for them; and little hills to shelter 
them from the suffocating winds ; and tender grass on 
every side; and twelve wells of the purest water in 
the world. There the desert sun no longer scorched 
like fire, and the desert breath was changed to spicy 
breezes. And as the cattle went peacefully grazing 
along the valley; and the contented flocks were lying 
down at noon; and the many thousands of Israel 
were gathered in groups under the trees, or stood 
around the wells drinking freely of the blessed water, 
was it not a scene over which satisfaction smiled? 
The Lord tried His people at Marah, but at Elim He 
gave them real enjoyment. 

Those spiritual Elims along our desert path are 
likewise places of refreshment as well as rest. At 
the week evening meeting, we " drink of the brook 
in the way;" 1 and from morning till evening of the 
Sabbath we draw water with joy "out of the wells 
i Ps. ex. 7. 



ELIM AND MA RAH. 6 1 

of salvation." x And so far as our spiritual supplies 
are concerned we have the advantage every way- 
over the Israelites. As we have already observed, 
it was in the spring season when they came to Elim : 
and while the palm-trees never cast their long, green 
leaves, they only yielded their fruit once a year, and 
in the month of April they could shake down no 
sweet dates from their branches, because the buds 
were just bursting into full blossom. Even at Elim 
their food consisted of the cakes Avhich they brought 
from Egypt. 

But at all times, under all circumstances, and in all 
seasons, Jesus yields us fruit which is good for food. 
Nay, He is every thing to us. He is our bread and 
water, and wine and milk. Our refuge and strength, 
" as a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from 
the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the 
shadow of a great rock in a weary land." 2 It was 
in the spring season of her love that the bride thus 
Bung of Jesus her heavenly Bridegroom: "As the ap- 
ple-tree among the trees of the wood, so is my Be- 
loved among the sous. I sat down under His shadow 
willi gnat delight, and His fruit was sweet to my 
taste.'' ■ And in another place He is likened to "the 
tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and 
yielded her fruit every month,"* which would make 
one hundred and forty-four harvests in the year. 

We must, go still further, and tell you that in the 
must special manner, Jesus yields us fruit every week. 

1 Isa. xii. 3. * i sa . X xxii. 2. 

3 Cunt. ii. 3. * Eov. xxii. 2. 



62 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

Iii the wilderness no manna fell on the Sabbath day; 
but "the bread of life" 1 cometh down from heaven 
more on that day than on any other. When by 
prayer and supplication we shake our sweet apple- 
tree, and the tree of life, behold, how fast the ripe 
fruit falls! "there shall be showers of blessing." 2 
Nay, more, Jesus is our daily food, and in answer 
to our pilgrim prayer, " Give us this day our daily 
bread," 3 our present wants are all supplied. Blessed 
Jesus, "The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou 
givest them their meat in due season. Thou openest 
thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living 
thing." 4 

The refreshment at Elim was abundant, "where 
were twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten 
palm-trees." In noticing the number of these wells 
and trees we can not help remarking their exact 
agreement with the number of the tribes and elders 
of Israel. There were twelve wells and seventy trees, 
and as there were just twelve divisions of the people 
and seventy rulers, it is not strange that the Jewish 
teachers should have thought the numbers quite sig- 
nificant. As a curious and interesting coincidence 
the agreement of these numbers may be mentioned, 
but it is doubtful whether any special application 
should be made of them. 

One thing however is very certain, the numbers 
were given in order to teach that there was abun- 
dant refreshment at Elim for all the children of Israel. 

1 John vi. 35. 2 Ezek. xxxiv. 26. 

3 Mat. vi. 11. * Ps. cxlv. 15, 16. 



ELIM AND MARAH. 63 

Water enough to quench the thirst of all, and trees 
enough to cast a kindly shadow over all. As in 
other places, sometimes, the definite is put for the 
indefinite number; so here, the number of the wells 
and trees is given, to signify that there were wells 
many and trees many : enough of both to satisfy and 
shelter the mighty host together with their cattle, 
and the "mixed multitude" 1 that followed the camp. 
And as the people wandered freely among the dense 
palm-groves, and through the green pastures which 
sparkled everywhere with the gleam of running wa- 
ter, not one word of complaint escaped their lips. 
No, there was no murmuring there. 

In " the glorious Gospel of the blessed God," 2 there 
is provision enough for a perishing world. In Christ 
Jesus there is "plenteous redemption," 3 and "He will 
abundantly pardon." * And might it not have been 
in token of His abounding grace that He selected 
twelve apostles and sent out seventy disciples to 
preacb the glad tidings everywhere. The fountain 
of His love is not like a little scanty spring in the 
sandy desert, round which thirsty travellers, with 
stony horror in their looks, have need to strive and 
struggle, soiling the water with their feet, and push- 
ing one another away, lest it should be drawn dry by 
others before they themselves can get an opportunity 
to drink. Oh no! the fountain of redeeming love is 
not like that, But I will tell you what it is like. It 
is like a well of living water springing up into a 

1 Exod. xii. 38. * I Tim. i. 11. 

3 Ps. cxxx. 7. « Isa. lv. 7. 



64 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

mighty, majestic, inexhaustible river, flowing deeper, 
broader, and purer in its onward course, and on the 
banks of which all the world might stand, and of 
which none need grudge lest, if others drink largely 
and freely, there will not enough be left for them. 

Or it is like the holy waters in Ezekiel's vision. 
His heavenly attendant conducted the prophet to the 
door of the Temple and pointed to a little stream that 
"issued out from under the threshold of the house 
eastward ; " 1 and they went forth both of them togeth- 
er and followed its wonderful course. "And when the 
man that had the line in his hand went forth east- 
ward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought 
me through the waters; the waters were to the an- 
kles. Again he measured a thousand, and brought 
me through the waters ; the waters were to the 
knees. Again he measured a thousand, and brought 
me through; the waters were to the loins. After- 
ward he measured a thousand; and it was a river 
that I could not pass over: for the waters were risen, 
waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed 
over." 

"And he said unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen 
this? Then he brought me, and caused me to return 
to the brink of the river. Now when I had returned, 
behold, at the bank of the river were very many trees 
on the one side and on the other. Then said he unto 
me, These waters issue out toward the east couutry, 
and go down into the desert, and go into the sea: 
which being brought forth into the sea, the waters 
1 Ezek. xlvii. 1. 



ELIM AND MARAH. 65 

shall be healed. And it shall come to pass, that 
every thing that liveth, which raoveth, whitherso- 
ever the rivers shall come, shall live : and there shall 
be a very great multitude of fish, because these wa- 
ters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and 
every thing shall live whither the river cometh." 1 

And better still, all people everywhere are invited 
and entreated to come and partake of " so great sal- 
vation." 2 The royal proclamation was sent out long- 
ago, "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the 
waters, and he that hath no mone}^; come ye, buy, 
and cat; j'ea, come, buy wine and milk without 
money and without price." 3 And as if the canon of 
Scripture could not be completed without the broad- 
est and most blessed invitation of all, we have this 
crowning one in its closing chapter, "The Spirit and 
tin- bride say. Conic. And let him that heareth say, 
Come. And let him that is athirst come. And who- 
•r will, let liini take the water of life freely." 4 

Such are the Saviour's own pressing invitations to 
His abounding grace, and from the moment they are 
accepted He suffers us \<> hide no good thing; "no 

g 1 thing will He withhold from them that walk 

uprightly." 6 He gives lis our daily bread, and our 
daily grace. And often lie gives us a change, of fare, 
and makes a great supper lor us. With His own 
hands His own table is spread in the wilderness, and 

famished with the bread and tin; wine of His best 
Urre, yea with His own broken body and shed blood; 

» Ezek. xlvii. 3-9. 2 Heb. ii. 3. a is a . lv. 1. 

* Rev. xxii. 17. 6 p B . l xxx iv. 11. 



66 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

and we have " a feast of fat things, a feast of wines 
on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on 
the lees well refined." 1 And that we may not feel 
bashful in His banqueting house, but perfectly at 
home, He takes His own place at the head of the 
table, saying, " Eat, friends ; drink, yea, drink 
abundantly, O beloved." 2 

The children of Israel pitched their tents at Elim, 
"they encamped there by the waters." They doubt- 
less did not remain long at Marah. There is a tradi- 
tion among the Jews that they tarried there only 
one day, and there is nothing in the sacred history 
to contradict this ancient opinion. On the contrary 
there are some things which seem to confirm it. 
Marah was a place of great suffering, and great sin- 
ning, too, for the people murmured there. And glad 
enough they must have been in the morning of the 
evening of their arriving there, to see the cloud of 
the divine presence rising from the bitter waters and 
beckoning them away; and after a few hours' march 
they came to Elim, where they encamped for more 
than twenty days, as the context clearly shows. 

For one day, at most, of suffering at Marah, God 
gave them, at least, twenty days of joyful repose at 
Elim. "behold therefore the goodness and severity 
of God." 3 The severity, how short! the goodness, 
how long ! In the desert, destitute, and bitter region 
of Marah, He would not suffer His covenant people 
to remain for more than one day ; but in the green 
pastures, and beside the sweet wells, and among the 
» Isa. xxv. 6. 2 Cant. v. 1. 3 Kom. xi. 22. 



ELIM AND MARAH. 6? 

delightful palm-groves of Elim, He permitted them 
to encamp for twenty days. 

We have often noticed how it pleases our heavenly 
Father thus to place one thing over against another. 
In the natural world there is an Elim over against 
every Marah — a fruitful valley beyond every barren 
hill. Those who go down to the sea in ships tell 
us that there is a calm after every storm, and that 
pleasant weather prevails. And we all know that the 
bright and sunny da} r s are more in number than the 
cloudy and dark days. So, in the experience of God's 
people, the happiness which they enjoy is greater 
than the misery which they endure. Every Marah 
is not only relieved by an Elim, but the "time to 
laugh" is twenty times as long as the "time to 
mourn." 

It was so with David, the man after God's "own 
heart," 1 who after wandering seven years in exile 
reigned forty years over "the glory of all lands." 2 
Jt was so with good King Hezekiah who after a 
few days of "pining sickness" was raised up from 
his bed of languishing and death, having received a 
second Lease of life, for the set time of fifteen years. 
It was so with Joseph, and more abundantly, for 
after patiently suffering thirteen years in an Egyp- 
tian prison, he spent the remaining eighty years of 
his useful life in ;m Egyptian palace. The proportion 
varies greatly, hut in every ease happiness preponder- 
ates: "For a small momeni have I forsaken thee; 
but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a 

1 I Sum. xiii. 14. « Ezek. xx. 6. 



68 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; 
but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on 
•thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer." 1 

Our own experience confirms the promises of God 
and corresponds with the history of His people in 
days gone by. For the most part our sky is clear. 
It is only now and then that a little cloud goes flit- 
ting by, casting a momentary shadow across our path, 
and the time to weep is shorter than the time to re- 
joice. Indeed the teai'S are not worthy to be spoken 
of in comparison of the smiles. As represented in the 
Bible, weeping comes like a wayfaring man of a sad 
countenance, and knocking dolefully at the door, begs 
a night's lodging, and rising up early in the morn- 
ing, leaves his blessing and departs. But joy comes 
like a friend, a member of the family, like an absent 
brother, perhaps; and with beaming face and bound- 
ing step bursts into the house as his own sweet 
home, and remains our welcome guest for many days; 
"Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in 
the morning." 2 "Behold at evening-tide trouble; and 
before the morning he is not." 3 

But, yet, after all, though Elim was such a pleas- 
ant place, the Israelites were not permitted to remain 
there always: they only "encamped there by the 
waters." That charming valley was not the land 
of promise; Canaan was not in all that country: 
and leading His wayfaring people home, God would 
riot permit them to cast away the cords and curtains 
of their tents, and gather stones, and cut down trees 
1 Isa. liv. 7. 2 Ps. xxx. 5. 3 Isa. xvii. 14. 



ELIM AND MARAH. 69 

and build themselves permanent abodes: and so they 
only pitched, even at Elim. 

There the twenty days of pure delight went swiftly 
by and soon were ended, and as the people fell in line 
once more, and followed after God's flying chariot, we 
will excuse them if they lingered in the green past- 
ures, and looked back through their tears at the 
palm-trees, till finally in the dim distance, they van- 
ished from their view; nor can we wonder if their 
hearts had taken root round those wells of water. 

However much we may be in love with our spir- 
itual Elims, we may not abide beneath their palms 
and beside their wells. How often have we desired 
to tarry longer in the banqueting house under the 
banner of the Saviour's best love; but we could not; 
'■ For here have we no continuing city," 1 "no certain 
dwelling place.''- We are strangers and pilgrims, 
"dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob," 3 
and sojourning in our own land as in a strange 
country. Even Sabbath tents must needs be struck 
every Monday morning: and holiest communion sea- 
sons must come to a close. Everywhere the sum- 
mons comes to us: "Arise ye, and depart, for this is 
not your rest." ' 

Amid all the changes, which the region of the 
Red Sea lias undergone during the last thirty-five 
centuries, the two places which have been the sub- 
ject of our meditation, Marah and Elim, have been 
preserved, and are still sending out their bitter and 

' Hob. xiii. 14. 2 I Cor. iv. 11. 

3 Heb. xi. 9. < Mic. ii. 10. 



yo BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

sweet waters to be, as it would seem, a perpetual 
parable of life, which is made up of nothing but 
Marahs and Elims from its commencement to its 
close. The bitter, too, is first and then the sweet. 
Not first Elim and then Marah; but Marah first and 
then Elim. First the cloud and then the rainbow; 
the smoking furnace and then the burning lamp; 
the night of weeping and then the morning of joy ; 
and these alternately all our journey through, till we 
shall leave our last Marah forever, and come to our 
eternal Elim — the rest that "remaineth." 1 

Perhaps some of you have never heard the reason 
why one of our southern states was called by that 
sweet name, Alabama. It is said that a tribe of In- 
dians, the aborigines of our country, having been 
driven southward by the advance of civilization, after 
many months of wearisome marching, one day, as the 
sun was setting, lighted on a lovely country, a very 
sanctuary unviolated by the remorseless white man. 
There, on the banks of a broad and calmly flow- 
ing river, where their canoes might ply, as they sup- 
posed, unmolested for ages, and in the margin of a 
magnificent forest, where the deer were sporting like 
tame kids, the old chief struck the pole of his tent 
into the ground, and leaped up, exclaiming, "Ala- 
bama ! Alabama ! " here we rest : here we rest. 

Dearly beloved, heaven is our Alabama, and when 

soon or late we reach that happy land, being assured 

that we shall go no more out, we can say with more 

significance than the red man, here we rest : here we 

• Heb. vi. 9. 



ELIM AND MA RAH. 7 J 

rest. This moving tent will then be laid aside, and 
we shall " dwell in the house of the Lord forever." 1 
In heaven there will be no more Marahs, no more 
bitter disappointments, no more blasted hopes, no 
more broken hearts, no more bereavements: "And 
there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor 
crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for 
the former things are passed away." 2 

How beautiful ! how magnificent ! how transport- 
ing ! is the inspired description of the better country. 
Behold, how the waters, and the trees, and the joy 
unspeakable reappear in the everlasting Elim ! " He 
showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crys- 
tal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the 
Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either 
side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare 
twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every 
month : and the leaves of the tree were for the heal- 
ing of the nations. And there shall be no more 
curse: but tin; throne of God and of the Lamb shall 
be in it: and His servants shall serve Him: and they 
shall see 1 1 is face; and His name shall be in their 
foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and 
they need no candle, neither light of the sun ; for the 
Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign 
forever and ever." 3 

" O sweet and blessed country, 
Shall I ever see thy face ? 
O sweet and blessed country, 
Shall I ever win thy grace? " 

1 Ps. xxiii. C. 2 Rev. xxi. 4. » R ev> xx ji. ]_5 # 



J 2 . BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

Jesus, my God, my guide, my glory, my life, my light, 
my love : I am in the wilderness ; but blessed be thy 
name, I am not alone, because thou art with me here, 
to choose all my changes, to make the darkness light 
before me, the crooked places straight, the rough 
places smooth, and to carry me over every hill of" 
difficulty. Thou art better than the pillared cloud, 
and the ark of the covenant and tabernacle of the 
testimony; for thou art the substance of all the an- 
cient shadows; the ever-living, never-dying, and nev- 
er-changing Friend, divinest, sweetest, best. Watch 
me, lead me, feed me, clothe me, defend me, support 
me, save me, and help me all my journey through, 
and bring me home to rest in thee. Hold thou me 
up, and then I shall be safe. Give me the sweet 
manna every morning, and that I may have the 
sweet sleep of thy beloved every night, put thy left 
hand under my head, and thy right hand over my 
heart; and for a change of fare give me thine own 
great supper. When I am weary, and discouraged, 
and desiring to die, and slumbering under the juniper- 
tree, wake me to something better than the prophet's 
baken cake and cruse of water, and give me the bread 
of life, and the pure blood of the grape, the wine that 
goeth down sweetly, causing the lips of those that 
are asleep to speak. And when at last, through thy 
great amazing grace, I shall reach the higher-life 
land, I will cast myself at thy feet, saying, to me, 
the meanest, grant the meanest place among thy re- 
deemed, and I shall be satisfied with thy beholdings. 






OUR LIGHT AFFLICTION. 



CHAPTER IV. 

"For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us 
a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." — II Cor. iv. 17. 

ALTHOUGH there is no attempt at literary excel- 
lence anywhere in the Bible, yet, there is no 
book which possesses so many literary attractions. 
It abounds with the best specimens of the various 
kinds of composition, and presents to the admiration 
of the world, the most beautiful and sublime sen- 
tences that were ever written. For the most part, 
its language is pure and simple, but many of God's 
thoughts are too great to be expressed by the strong- 
esi terms; and often the inspired writers were obliged 
to coin new words and form unusual figures of speech, 
and sometimes these are heaped one upon another, if 
by any means the exact truth might be conveyed to 
us and comprehended by us. 

The text is one of these literary attractions, as many 
of you must have noticed. It engages, at once, the 
attention of the most intelligent reader and challenges 
ln's admiration. lie may be an infidel or an atheist, 
I'Hf he can not help confessing, that this short passage 
of Scripture is one of the finest sentences which can 
be found in any language. 

But the text is more and better than beautiful. Its 



j6 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

"apples of gold" 1 are more to be desired than their 
silver basket. In it our present and future state are 
contrasted, and the influence which the one has upon 
the other is plainly stated ; and the excellent form of 
the sentence is less than nothing in comparison of its 
more excellent matter. 

Probably no portion of revelation has been more 
highly prized. Its sweet and precious words are 
easily remembered, fondly cherished, and frequently 
quoted. Like a missionary angel, arrayed in a heav- 
enly dress, it comes on a special errand to the sons 
and daughters of sorrow; knocking gently at the 
door of tribulation and anguish, it leaves its bene- 
diction, which makes the house of mourning better 
than the house of feasting. It has charmed down 
more rising griefs than there are hairs on our head: 
it has chased away more black doubts than there are 
stars in the sky: it has chained in their dungeon more 
thieving thoughts than there are sands on the sea- 
shore. With its heavenly balm it has bound up more 
bruised reeds, strengthened more weak hands, and 
confirmed more feeble knees, than all the philosophy 
of the world. It helped the noble army of martyrs 
to glorify the Lord in the fires; it has made happy 
the orphan's lonely home and caused the widow's 
heart to sing for joy. Nay, more, it pours the sweet- 
est and the strongest consolations into the soul of the 
sick and dying saint, turning "the shadow of death 
into the morning." 2 Nor will its blessed mission be 
ended in the earth, till the last of the blood-washed 
i Prov. xxv. 11. 2 Amos v. 8. 



OUR LIGHT AFFLICTION. J7 

throng shall be crowned with " beauty for ashes," 
and go up out of all tribulation to that heaven where 
"they shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more." 1 

A theme so interesting in itself, which has done so 
much to lighten the load of poverty, sweeten the cup 
of sorrow, and which makes the dark valley the shin- 
ing way to the New Jerusalem, is worthy of our 
prayerful study, and as it passes under review, we 
trust, it will prove profitable to all; and especially to 
those to whom it may be a word in season: "For our 
light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh 
for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of 
glory." 

The sorrows of this life and the joys of the life 
to come are here contrasted by one who, through 
personal experience and observation, was better ac- 
quainted with them than any of the saints. Paul's 
trials were greater than those of other men, and his 
knowledge <>f the glory to be revealed was better, 
because he had been to heaven once : so that in the 
text he speaks of what he knew, and testifies of what 
1m- had seen. 

Tin- contrast is very striking. Affliction and glory 
are eel over against each other: the affliction is light, 
the glory is a weight. The affliction is but for a 

in ill. the glory is eternal; and not only so, but it 

ii i- ■•.•! tar more exceeding ami eternal weight of 
glory." The highest superlative form of speech was 
not Btrong enough t<> express his idea of heaven, 
and so the apostle has ((instructed the most inten- 
' Kev. vii. 10. 



78 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

sive, energetic and emphatic sentence anywhere to 
be found, and yet these weighty, well-chosen, and 
inspired words leave altogether untouched the bound- 
ary lines of the excellent glory. It may be experi- 
enced, but it can not be expressed: "For God, who 
commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath 
shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowl- 
edge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ;" 1 

Affliction is any sorrow which may be sent upon 
us by our heavenly Father, such as sickness, the loss 
of reputation, or the loss of property. And here it 
is necessary to say, that while all afflictions are suf- 
ferings, all sufferings are not afflictions. The blow 
must come from the hand of God. Self-inflicted suf- 
fering is not affliction. A man may give his body to 
be burned for the sin of his soul, but it can not be 
said that he is afflicted, because he is the author of his 
own torments: if, however, he is persecuted for right- 
eousness' sake, then his sufferings take on the char- 
acter described in the text. Paul's sufferings were 
chiefly of this sort: they came upon him in the dis- 
charge of duty, because he loved the Saviour and 
served him for love: living only to preach His Gos- 
pel and glory in His cross. 

Often our sorest afflictions are not visible to the 
world, nor to our nearest and dearest friends. There 
are silent, secret sorrows that may not speak and must 
not be spoken of; and these are by far the most com- 
mon and the most crushing in their pressure. When 
Abraham was so strangely commanded to make a 
i IT Cor. iv. 6. 



OUR LIGHT AFFLICTION. 79 

burnt - offering of Isaac, and so strangely obeyed, 
there was no human being to whom he might un- 
burden his breaking heart. He could not speak to 
Sarah about the proposed sacrifice of her one only 
son, because she never would have suffered him to 
be led away "as a lamb to the slaughter;" 1 neither 
could he mention the matter to the servants, who ac- 
companied him on the journey, because they would 
have rescued the dear idol of the household, and taken 
him home to his mother; neither could he speak to 
Isaac about the divine behest, because, as they climbed 
the hill, both of them together, the limber lad might 
have darted away through the thicket, and escaped 
for his life, "as a roc from the hand of the hunter, 
and as a bird from the hand of the fowler." 2 And 
now, as then, these dumb sorrows are the most de- 
vouring; "The heart knoweth his own bitterness." 3 
It is also accessary that these sufferings should be 
endured by the people of God. They must be "our" 
afflictions. The same stroke which is an affliction to 
tin- saint, and is designed to do him good, is a judg- 
ment to tin' impenitent sinner, and is sent as the pun- 
ishment of sonic transgression. " Wherefore doth a 
living man complain, a man for the punishment of 
his -ins?"' 

There was an ancient sect of philosophers who 
believed^ ami taught, that all things were fixed by 
Gate, ami that the fates should he submitted to with- 
out gainsaying: that, so far as possible, the passions 

1 Isu. liii. 7. 2 Prov. vi. 5. 

3 Prov. xiv. 10. * Lam. iii. 39. 



8o 



BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 



and affections should be restrained and suppressed; 
that happiness consisted in the insensibility of the 
soul to pain; and that there should be no rejoicing 
over any good, nor mourning over any evil. And 
the degree of indifference to which the disciples of 
Zeno attained in contemplating the course of human 
events is very wonderful. The loss of their children 
they regarded no more than the loss of their cattle. 

But we are not stoics; our hard and stony hearts 
have been taken away and we have hearts of flesh : 
hearts that bleed and break; hearts like the Saviour's 
own which sometimes overflowed with tears. And 
though we know for certain, that our afflictions are 
sent from heaven to make us wiser and better, never- 
theless^ they are hard to bear, and often in the great- 
ness of our grief, we seek a place apart to weep; and 
sometimes our sorrows are too great for even tears, 
except those which only the soul can shed. 

But while our heavenly Father would not have us 
harden our hearts when He handles the rod for our 
correction and exaltation, we should never abandon 
ourselves to excessive grief, and cherish our miseries 
as if they were our choicest mercies: this would be 
flying to the other extreme, and could be counted 
scarcely better than to be "without natural affec- 
tion." 1 When the hand of God is lifted up against 
us, we should look away from the present affliction 
to the coming glory, being assured that the splendors 
of the one will alleviate the sorrows of the other; 
"while we look not at the things which are seen' 



II Tim. iii. 3. 



OUR LIGHT AFFLICTION. 8 1 

but at the things which are not seen : for the things 
which are seen are temporal; but the things which 
are not seen are eternal." 1 

What this glory is, of course we can not tell. Paul 
could not though he had seen it. When he returned 
from paradise, it was not possible for him to relate 
what he had heard and seen. And we, who have 
never been there, should never make the vain attempt 
to depict the blessedness of the "better country": "as 
it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither 
have entered into the heart of man the things which 
God hath prepared for them that love Him." 2 

Nevertheless, we may know something about heaven 
now. In the grapes and pomegranates and figs which 
Caleb and Joshua brought back from Canaan, to con- 
firm their good report of the land, the Israelites learned 
something about the exceeding fruitfulness of their 
future borne. And, by the blessing of God, it is our 
privilege to have many a sweet foretaste of the para- 
dise to which we are going. Almost every day, faith 
and hope are 'Kissing the river, and coining again 
with perfect peace and perfect love for us. The con- 
stani indwelling of the Holy Spirit of promise is ex- 
pressly called, "the earnest of our inheritance;" 3 the 
real presence of the Saviour makes the wilderness a 
wealthy place: the weekly Sabbath, when properly 
observed, is a short segment of our everlasting rest; 
the happiness of heaven is nothing but the perfection 
of holiness, and its glory is only the ripe fruit of 

grace. 

i II Cor. iv. 18. * I Cor. ii. *J. 3 Eph. i. 14. 

G 



82 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

These two things, grace and glory, are the same in 
substance : they are only different, names for different 
degrees of Christian experience; grace is glory in the 
blade, glory is grace in full corn ; grace is glory be- 
gun below, glory is grace completed above. But 
though now we may know much of glory through 
grace, neither now nor hereafter shall we be able to 
comprehend it all. " Such knowledge is too wonder- 
ful for me; it is high, I can not attain unto it." 1 It 
will always be too wonderful, and we shall never be 
able to attain unto it. 

In the high school of heaven we shall be ever 
learning, but we shall never complete the course of 
study, nor take the last degree. As fast as one mys- 
tery of godliness shall be explained, another shall be 
presented. "Things to come" 2 will be always com- 
ing, and always "things to come." We shall also 
advance in happiness and our joy shall be full, but 
the "fulness of joy" 3 will never be exhausted. In the 
sacred science of mathematics there is a certain prob- 
lem in which it is proved, beyond a peradventure, 
that two lines may be forever approaching each other 
and, yet, never meet. So we shall be always draw- 
ing nearer to God, in the holy joy of heaven, and God 
will be always drawing nearer to us; but while eter- 
nal ages roll, this prayer of Moses shall be thine and 
mine, "I beseech thee show me thy glory." 4 As we 
rise from rapture to rapture, and from glory to glory, 
the scenes of bliss Avill be ever new, and the Lamb 

1 Ps. cxxxix. 6. 2 I Cor. iii. 22. 

3 Ps. xvi. 11. * Exod. xxxiii. 18. 



OUR LIGHT AFFLICTION. 83 

who leads us along the crystal rivers of delight will 
be ever saying, as He said to Nathanael, "Thou 
shalt see greater things than these." 1 

Looking again at the contrasting words, you will 
notice that the affliction is light and the glory is a 
weight. Afflictions are seldom light in themselves, 
and sometimes they are burdens too grievous to be 
borne. The Scriptures do not strive to soften down 
the blows by which our hearts are broken, and left 
long bleeding. They are spoken of as "much trib- 
ulation," and "great tribulation." They are often 
likened to the cross under which Jesus fainted, and 
on which Jesus died ; and in one place they are called 
"a great fight of afflictions."' 2 

The apostle's afflictions Avere any thing else but 
light. They consisted of poverty, and reproach, and 
scourging, and stoning, and imprisonment, and con- 
stant exposure to death; he drained the cup of sor- 
row to the dregs, and suffered more than any other 
martyr; yet he speaks of his afflictions as if they 
were light, and they were light and found wanting, 
when cast into the balance against the weight of 
glory. As this great globe of ours, with all its land 
and water, is but the merest speck in space, and so 
\<i v small that it can not be seen from most of the 
stars, and so light that it is less than nothing in the 
scales of the Almighty; and as its circumference is 
but the centre of that greater circumference described 
in the beginning by the golden compasses of God: so 
our afflictions, overwhelming as they often are, and 
1 John i. 50. 2 Heb. x. 32. 



84 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

our greatest tribulations, are both little and light and 
the most insignificant trifles, when contrasted with 
the exceeding blessedness of heaven. " For I reck- 
on " l — observe how the apostle is speaking like a 
Professor of the highest Mathematics, as if he had 
been busy striving to solve the great problem, put- 
ting down the known and the unknown quantities of 
"things present" and "things to come," all of which 
were known to him, performing all the processes, and 
reaching at last this sublime conclusion — "that the suf- 
ferings of this present time are not worthy to be com- 
pared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." 

The Hebrew word for glory means weight, and as 
Paul was an Hebrew, and had just used a double 
hyperbole, which was the Hebrew form of denoting 
the highest superlative, that meaning of the word 
was probably in his mind when he penned this won- 
derful expression. It signifies something so heavy as 
to constitute a burden. It may refer to the marks 
and manifestations of royalty, such as the purple- robe 
heavy with gold, the imperial crown heavy with dia- 
monds, and the glittering sceptre heavy with pearls 
and all manner of precious stones. But though the 
glory is weighty enough to be a burden, it will never 
be burdensome. The sanctified spirit, and the "spir- 
itual body " will be adapted to the excellent glory 
into which they shall be received, and shall enjoy 
those things which now they could not endure. We 
shall never be sensible of fatigue nor need repose. 
"There shall be no night there," 2 and during all 
1 Rom. viii. 18. 2 Eev. xxii. 5. 



OUR LIGHT AFFLICTION. 85 

the everlasting day our eyes shall never slumber; 
our wings shall never droop; our hands shall never 
weary; and our feet shall never tire, as we enter 
into "the temple, walking, and leaping and prais- 
ing God." 1 "The four beasts had each of them six 
wings about him ; and they were full of eyes within ; 
and they rest not day and night saying, Holy, holy, 
holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is 
to come." 2 

As we glance, once more, at the beautiful contrast, 
you will notice that our light affliction "is but for 
a moment " and the weight of glory is " eternal." 
Trials always seem long, and sometimes they are 
long. Often a single night of anguish appears of 
an interminable length. "When I lie down, I say, 
When shall I arise, and the night be gone? and I am 
full of tossings to and fro unto the dawning of the 
day."' The weary, waking, weeping hours creep so 
slowly along we would like to give them wings to fly 
swiftly away. The eagerly watched for morning is 
so long in coming, it seems as if it never would be 
morning. 

But there are some who have wearisome years 
appointed unto them. Poverty is their perpetual por- 
tion, and they are perplexed about what they shall 
eat, ami what they shall drink, and wherewithal they 
shall he clothed: or adversity follows them unremit- 
tingly, never permitting the bright light to break 
through the black clouds: or they are always sick, 
from their birth to their burial, and never eat with 
1 Acts iii. 8. 2 ltov. iv. 8. 3 Job vii. 4. 



86 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

any pleasure. Some of the Saviour's patients, whom 
He so kindly healed, had borne their infirmities for 
a long time; one for "twelve years;" 1 another for 
" eighteen years ; " 2 and still another " thirty and 
eight years." 3 And occasionally we meet with those 
now who are tormented with divers diseases all their 
lives. As fast as one complaint is cured another 
comes. In all their days, which may be many, there 
is not a single day of rest, or health, or happiness: 
their life is a lingering death, and "the last enemy"* 
would be more welcome than their dearest friend: 
"Which long for death, but it cometh not; and dig 
for it more than for hid treasures; which rejoice ex- 
ceedingly, and are glad, when they can find the 
grave." 5 

Some of Paul's afflictions were of this kind. His 
bodily health, which was probably never very good, 
seems to have been permanently broken about the 
time of his conversion ; and there was a thorn in his 
flesh piercing him day and night without ceasing, for 
more than thirty years. Besides, from the beginning 
to the end of his wonderful career of well-doing, there 
was no rest for him, till he sealed his testimony with 
his blood. At home and abroad, by Jews and Gen- 
tiles, he was hated and hunted, " as when one doth 
hunt a partridge in the mountains." 6 And yet he 
speaks of these long-sufferings as if they were short 
and evanescent: "our light affliction which is but 
for a moment:" like snow-flakes on the water in the 

i Mat. ix. 20. » Luke xiii. 16. 3 John v. 5. 

« I Cor. xv. 26. s Job iii. 21, 22. « I Sam. xxvi. 20. 



OUR LIGHT AFFLICTION. Sy 

month of May, melting as they fall; like flying me- 
teors in the sky, that pass away before you can point 
.the place. 

And such our afflictions truly and actually are, 
when contrasted with the eternal weight of glory yet 
to come. "The last jewel of our crown is that it 
will be an everlasting rest." Our afflictions may be 
lasting, but they can not be everlasting. The longest 
road will have a termination, but the perfect love and 
perfect joy of heaven shall have no end. Forever 
and forever is the double twisted cord with which 
the bundle of bliss shall be bound up for the sons and 
daughters of the Lord Almighty. " The sun shall be 
no more thy light by day ; neither for brightness shall 
the moon give light unto thee: but the Lord shall 
be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy 
glory. Thy sun shall no more go down ; neither shall 
thy moon withdraw itself: for the Lord shall be thine 
everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall 
be ended." 1 

The longest life twice told is but a moment in com- 
parison of eternity: "For what is your life? It is 
even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and 
then vanisheth away." 2 "What were Paul's life-long 
sorrows when weighed against the eighteen hundred 
years of joy which he has already had in heaven? 
And yet these eighteen centuries are hardly long 
enough to be called the introduction to the everlast- 
ing rest, and the great apostle must he lingering still 
in the vestibule of ,^'lory. 

« Isa. lx. 19, 20. « James iv. 14. 



88 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

But there is something more and better in the text 
than the interesting contrast which we have been 
considering ; there is an important connection be- 
tween the affliction and the glory. They are inti- 
mately related to each other, as cause and effect. 
The one is the procuring cause of the other; not the 
meritorious cause : we do not earn the glory by suf- 
fering ever so much; but we are prepared for it by 
suffering, as it was prepared for us. Our afflictions 
are sent upon us for a particular purpose: they are 
the special messengers of our heavenly Father; they 
are both His servants and our own, and in their 
friendly mission they are exceedingly efficacious and 
successful. They are the stone-cutters and wood-cut- 
ters, the masons and the carpenters: the w T ise master- 
builders and the bearers of burdens: the Bezaleels 
and Aholiabs who have charge of the construction 
of our "spiritual house," 1 and day and night, in sea- 
son and out of season, they are always busy toiling 
for us. " Our light affliction, which is but for a mo- 
ment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eter- 
nal Aveight of glory." 

And in striving to show you how this blessed re- 
sult is accomplished, it must be remarked that afflic- 
tions wean us from the world. Knowing the ten- 
dency of the human heart to twine itself around 
the things of time and sense, our heavenly Father 
admonishes us to set our affections on things above, 
not on things on the earth. "Love not the world, 
neither the things that are in the world. If any man 
i I Pet. ii. 5. 



OUR LIGHT AFFLICTION. 89 

love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." 1 
In the same spirit, and almost in the same words, our 
Elder Brother says, " Lay not up for yourselves treas- 
ures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, 
and where thieves break through and steal: but lay 
up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither 
moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do 
not break through nor steal: for where your treasure 
is, there will your heart be also." 2 

But the best of us give no earnest heed to these 
divine behests. Professing to have abandoned the 
pomps and vanities of the world, as our riches, and 
honors, and pleasures increase, Ave set our hearts 
more firmly on them: and not unfrequently the life 
that now is, engages more of our attention than the 
life to come. 

Prosperity and spirituality are not congenial, and 
usually as the one waxes the other wanes. The rich- 
est Christians ought to be the best and most useful 
members of the church : relieved from taking thought 
for the morrow, they might spend all their time walk- 
ing in the footsteps of the Master, "who went about 
(loin-' good." 3 But, as a general rule, those follow- 
ers of the Saviour who are the most prosperous in 
worldly matters are the most worldly-minded. The 
burning and shining lights of poverty and obscurity 
Beldom burn so well and shine so bright when set 
on a golden candlestick. When they were packing 
np their goods, to quit the lowly cottage, they left 
their "first love"; 4 and on the way to the golden 
1 I John ii. 15. 2 Mat. vi. 19-21. =» Acts x. 38. * Rev. ii. 4. 



90 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

mansion they lost their testimony : " The prosperity 
of tools shall destroy them." 1 The gifts of God which 
should constrain them to love Him more and serve 
Him better rather hardens their hearts: they love 
their blessings so supremely, and lean on them so 
confidently, and draw so much sweet comfort from 
them, that at last they are deemed all-sufficient, and 
the bountiful Giver of them all is not in all their 
thoughts. " He made him ride on the high places of 
the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; 
and He made him to suck honey out of the rock, and 
oil out of the flinty rock; butter of kine, and milk 
of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of 
Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; 
and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape. 
But Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked." 2 

But, if these are the children of the kingdom, God 
will not forsake them when they forsake Him. If 
they will not hear His word, He will make them hear 
His rod: if they will not listen to the still, small voice 
of His Spirit, He will speak louder by His providence, 
and still louder, till they do hear. The Babylonish 
captivity was, doubtless, the greatest calamity that 
ever came on any nation ; but it came because God's 
house was deserted, because His Sabbath was broken, 
and because He Himself was forgotten. Bad as the 
peculiar people were, their covenant-keeping Father 
would not abandon them when they abandoned Him; 
and so He sent them into slavery, to set them free 
from sin : and, after seventy years of suffering, when 
i Prov. i. 32. - Deut. xxxii. 13-15. 



OUR LIGHT AFFLICTION. 9 1 

they were restored to their right minds, and their 
backslidings were all healed, He brought them home 
again. 

After the same manner, our heavenly Father is con- 
strained to deal with us. When we are tempted to 
say in our prosperity, "I shall die in my nest," 1 "I 
shall never be moved," 2 straightway the nest is stirred 
up and trouble comes. When we forget God who 
gives us all our blessings, He takes our blessings 
all away; when we forsake Him, He sends sorrow 
after us, in the chariot " paved with love," 3 to bring 
us back from our heart wanderings. And when we 
love the creature more than the Creator, He is so 
jealous that He takes to Himself the dearest idols 
we have known: "and, as the hounds easily follow 
the scent before the dew is risen, so God teaches us, 
while yet our sorrow is wet, to follow on and find our 
dear ones in heaven." 

We have read of one who, in his outward estate, 
was prospered more than he ever expected to be. 
The gentleness of God made him rich and great; 
but he suffered the world to encroach so much upon 
his affections, that the ardor of his piety was sensibly 
diminished. The disease was desperate, and demand- 
ed a desperate remedy. First of all, the wife of his 
bosom melted from his embrace, but still he remained 
frorldly-minded; then a dear son vanished from his 
view, but though the symptoms were more favorable . 
now, he was not restored; then his crops failed and 
his cuttle died, still his grasp on the world was not 
1 Job xxix. 18. 2 Ts. xxx. G. 3 Cant, iii. 10. 



92 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

unloosed; then God reached hither His hand out of 
heaven and smote him with a " pining sickness," ' 
the world, however, still occupied too much of his 
thoughts; finally his house caught fire, and as he 
was carried from the burning building, he exclaimed, 
" Blessed be God, 1 am cured at last." 

It must be observed further, that afflictions are sent 
upon us to develop our character. The mental fac- 
ulties of many persons are so often drawn out and 
developed by the circumstances in which they are 
placed, that it has passed into a proverb that "circum- 
stances make men." A man in easy circumstances, 
having enough and to spare, and nothing to do, is 
apt to float quietly along on the stream of time, and 
off into the ocean of eternity, leaving no track and 
making no sign. But if he had been placed in cir- 
cumstances which were calculated to call forth the 
latent powers within him, he might have walked in 
a starry path to the highest pinnacle of renown, and 
placed the whole world under tribute to his usefulness. 

So a Christian, who has nothing to try him, has 
nothing to make him such a Christian as he might 
become. His twelve labors made the Hercules: An- 
taeus rose stronger after every fall to the ground. 
These fables are turned into facts in the history of 
God's suffering people, " Who passing through the 
valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth 
the pools. They go from strength to strength." 2 
Vessels meet for the Master's use are not made with- 
out the fire and the hammer, and the best and most 
• Isa. xxxviii. 12. 2 Ps. lxxxiv. 6, 7. 



OUR LIGHT AFFLICTION. 93 

beautiful of these receive the most blows. Moses 
was the meekest man, and Job was the most patient 
man, because their trials blossomed into these graces. 
"Tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experi- 
ence." 1 And Paul was the greatest and the most 
useful of the holy men of old, because he was the 
greatest sufferer. His meat and drink were "the 
bread of adversity, and the water of affliction," 2 and 
these were better every way than the luxuries of the 
king's table. Sorrows were his very life, he lived in 
them and on them, and because he knew that they 
were so good for him, he was glad of them, and 
gloried in them. And not only so, but he entered 
heaven with a character developed "unto the meas- 
ure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." 3 

Nay, more, we .are taught to believe that Jesus was 
a better Saviour because He was a man of sorrows: 
" For it became Him, for whom are all things, and 
by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto 
glory, to make the Captain of their Salvation perfect 
through sufferings." 4 And every one of these many 
sons is made perfect in the same way. In the saint- 
liest of the sons of men there is much sin, and it must 
be removed; and God lias chosen the afflictions of 
this life as the necessary means of purging it away, 
and preparing him for the glory to be revealed: " Lo, 
I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel 
among all nations, like as corn is silted in a sieve, 
yet shall not the least grain Tail upon the earth." 

' Rom. v. 3, 4. * Isa. xxx. 20. 3 Eph. iv. 13. 

* Heb. ii. 10. » Amos ix. 9. 



94 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

The builder goes to the quarry and selects a rough 
stone from the many that are imbedded there in mire 
and dirt: with blasts and bars and blows it is sepa- 
rated from its surroundings. Then for weeks and 
months the stone-cutters are busy about it, working 
on it with their hammers and chisels, knocking off 
the sharp corners, and squaring and smoothing it for 
a place in some royal palace. 

That Builder is God: by the power of His Holy 
Spirit the living stone is hewn out of the dead rock, 
and lifted up out of "the hole of the pit"; 1 and for 
many weary years sometimes, His spiritual workmen 
are engaged upon it with their iron tools, till at last 
it is " polished after the similitude of a palace," 2 and. 
builded in the " house not made with hands, eternal 
in the heavens." 3 

The lapidary brings the precious stone into his 
workshop and holds it up against the swift revolv- 
ing wheel, till all its dingy roughness disappears : he 
turns it round and round, smiting and smoothing its 
several sides, and in a little lvhile it brightens and 
reflects the light in rainbow hues, and is fit to be set 
in the crown of a king. 

That Lapidary is our dear Lord Jesus : with His own 
hand He takes the " daughters of Jerusalem," 4 rough, 
dark diamonds as they are, and holds them hard 
against the grinding wheel of great tribulation, and 
in due season they will be sparkling gems prepared 
for the crown of His rejoicing: "And they shall be 

1 Isa. li. 1. 2 p s . cx iiv. 12. 

3 II Cor. v. 1. * Luke xxiii. 28. 



OUR LIGHT AFFLICTION. 95 

mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I 
make up my jewels." l 

The husbandman prunes the vine not to hurt it but 
to make it better and more fruitful : every year he wise- 
ly cuts away the barren and redundant branches that 
put forth nothing but leaves. After every trimming; 
the strength and sweetness of the sap, rising from 
the roots, are concentrated in the few branches that 
are left, making them more healthy and productive. 

" My Father is the Husbandman. Every branch 
in me that beareth not fruit He taketh away: and 
every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth it, that 
it may bring forth more fruit." 2 He would not have 
the vines of His planting to flourish only with excess- 
ive foliage, and in order to cure this natural propen- 
sity, He comes down into His garden with the sharp 
shears of sickness and sorrow, and one after another 
the cumbering shoots are shorn away: He is look- 
ing for grapes, large clusters and of the best qual- 
ity; nor will He be satisfied with a scanty harvest: 
"Herein is my Father glorified that ye bear much 
fruit." 3 

Tin' refiner receives the precious metals fresh from 
the mines, and finding them mixed with many worth- 
lees substances, before they can be of much use to 
any body they must be purified, so lie puts them in 
a lining pot and subjects them to an intense heat. 
When tip- whole mass is melted, a separation takes 
place between the precious and the vile, ami the 
precious becomes more precious because it is pure; 

1 Mai. ill. 17. 2 John xv. 1. J John xv. 8. 



g6 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

and just as soon as the refiner can see his image in 
the seething gold its purification is complete. 

That Eefiner is our Kinsman Redeemer; "He shall 
sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." 1 He takes 
" the precious sons of Zion comparable to fine gold," 2 
and casts them into the furnace of affliction, saying: 
" I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge 
away thy dross, and take away all thy tin." 3 His own 
self kindles the fire by which they are melted down 
and all their sins are burned away; and when He 
can see His own pure image in their pure hearts, for 
which He sits watching beside the furnace, then they 
are sanctified wholly and may be minted into money, 
or fashioned into vessels "meet for the Master's use:" 4 
'• Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a sea- 
son, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold 
temptations: that the trial of your faith, being much 
more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it 
be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and 
honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ." B 

The artist in taking your photograph makes what 
is called a negative picture first, and then with this 
he prints a positive. In the negative everything is 
reversed and just as wrong as it can be: up is down, 
right is left, and light is darkness. But from this 
mass of contradictions a perfect portrait is procured. 
From that in which all things are wrong — where the 
light of the eye is darkness, and the deepest black- 

' Mai. iii. 3. 2 Lam. iv. 2. 

3 Isa. i. 25. « U Tim. ii. 21. 

a I Pet. i. 6, 7. 



OUR LIGHT AFFLICTION. 97 



rived the truest copy which was ever made. 

That Artist is the Almighty: He His own self pre- 
sides over the strange process by which our likeness 
is painted for eternity; He places us precisely in the 
right position, and so adjusts the light from "the Sun 
of righteousness," ' that every feature may be brought 
out in its perfect beauty. And our present life, with 
its clouds, its crosses, and its contradictions, is nothing 
but the necessary negative which He first prepares ; 
and then from this He works out the exact likeness 
of our future life, where darkness shall be turned into 
light, sorrow into joy, and our crown of grief shall 
fade away in our " crown of glory that fadeth not 
away." 2 

It still remains to be mentioned, that affliction will 
be the measure of our reward in heaven. We are 
prepared for the glory by suffering, as by suffering 
the glory was prepared for us; and not only so, but 
the glory will be in proportion to the suffering. That 
there will be different degrees of glory in heaven is 
both reasonable and scriptural, and so natural, too, 
that it seems almost like a self-evident truth. The 
flowers of the field are not all equally beautiful and 
good: some of them are arrayed in more glory than 
others, and send out a sweeter smelling fragrance. 
Tin- trees of the wood are not all alike: some of them 
an- taller than others, and have a greater girth, and 
are farmore useful The stars in the firmament are 
not all of tla- same size, ma- do they shine with the 
' M;il. i\. 1. 2 1 p e t. v. 4. 

7 



93 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

same brightness: some of them are stars of the sixth 
magnitude, and their light is so dim that it can 
scarcely be seen; while others are stars of the first 
magnitude, and shine like diamonds in the diadem 
of night, ''There is one glory of the sun, and an- 
other glory of the moon, and another glory of the 
stars; for one star differeth from another star in 
glory." 1 

The same variety is just as manifest in the king- 
dom of grace. In the spiritual world, as in the nat- 
ural, there are flowers of surpassing beauty, trees of 
greater stature, and stars of the first magnitude. 
"Now there are diversities of gifts:" 2 "Are all apos- 
tles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all work- 
ers of miracles ? have all the gifts of healing ? do all 
speak with tongues? do all interpret?" 3 Oh no! 
" Unto one He gave five talents, to another two, and 
to another one; to every man according to his several 
ability." 4 As members of the Church of Christ, we 
have gifts and graces differing according to our du- 
ties and our difficulties. It is worthy of some honor 
to be any thing, and to do any thing for the Master: 
it is honorable to be a deacon only, and serve tables; 
it is more honorable to be a ruling, or a preaching 
elder: "Let the elders that rule well be counted 
worthy of double honor, especially they who labor 
in the word and doctrine." 5 

And as the church in heaven will be composed from 
the church on earth, there will doubtless be as many 

' I Cor. xv. 41. 2 1 Cor. xii. 4. s I Cor. xii. 29, 30. 
* Mat. xxv. 15. 5 I Tim. v. 17. 



OUR LIGHT AFFLICTION. 99 

degrees in glory as there are in grace. All the saints 
in heaven will not have the same office, nor will they 
be equal in honor. In that commonwealth of kings 
and priests all will be happy, as happy as they can 
be, but some will be able to enjoy more than others. 
And all will be honored, but some will be counted 
worthy of double honor. Yes, there will be crowns 
with more jewelry, and thrones of higher dignity, 
and harps of sweeter melody. But who, who shall 
wear these crowns with more jewelry? and sit down 
on these thrones of higher dignity? and handle these 
harps of sweeter melody? I ask again, who shall be 
greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Are they those 
who were the greatest in the church below? By no 
means, because, "The Lord seeth not as man seeth; for 
man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord 
ldoketh on the heart," 1 The pillars and pinnacles in 
the temple here, may be nothing more than the door- 
posts and Lintels in the hou.se of the Lord on high, 
while those who are "less than the least of all saints" 2 
now, may be the very greatest in the kingdom of 
heaven. 

The eternal allotments of the last day will not be 
made so much for what we have accomplished as for 
what we have suffered. Indeed, I sometimes think, 
that success in life is not to be taken into the account 
at all. The last of the beatitudes is very significant: 
" Blessed are they which are persecuted for right- 
eousness' sake-: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and per- 
1 I Sum. xvj. 7. 2 Eph. iii. 8. 



TOO BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

secute you, and shall .say all manner of evil against 
you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding 
glad: for great is your reward in heaven." 1 

We are taught to believe that the minister's man- 
sion in the Father's house will be very magnificent. 
In place of the "little chamber" on the wall, which 
he lodged in here, and which w T as so plainly fur- 
nished with "a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a 
candlestick," 2 he shall have a large parlor there, ex- 
quisitely furnished, and superbly decorated with the 
Saviour's hand: and the minister himself shall be 
more glorious than his mansion; "They that be wise 
shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and 
they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars 
forever and ever." 3 

And those who had no success shall be as highly 
honored, as those who turned many to righteousness. 
The prophet who preached to a disobedient and gain- 
saying people shall have as bright a crown as the 
apostle who w r as instrumental in the conversion of 
thousands: "For if there be first a willing mind, it is 
accepted according to that a man hath, and not ac- 
cording to that he hath not,"' 1 

Most of the missionaries, who first w r ent to the 
heathen, met with but small success: some of them 
preached for six years, and some of them for twelve 
years, and some of them for twenty years, before 
they made a single convert, and some of them never 
made any at all; but yet, I believe, their mansions 

i Mat. v. 10-12. 2 II Kings iv. 10. 

3 Dan. xii. 3. * II Cor. viii. 12. 



OUR LIGHT AFFLICTION. IOI 

will be much more magnificent, than those of their 
brethren who preached the gospel at home, because 
they made greater sacrifices for the Master and suf- 
fered more: "Them that honor me I will honor." 1 

It is generally supposed that the martyrs will have 
the highest throne in heaven, and wear the brightest 
crown, because they so joyfully submitted to such 
unspeakable torments for the sake of Christ: they 
coveted the martyrs' place in heaven. But there are 
martyrs still, not of the rack, nor of the stake, nor of 
the scaffold, but martyrs of poverty and sickness and 
divine self-devotion; adorning the doctrine of God 
their Saviour in the unpoetic, common duties of do- 
mestic life, dying daily unto sin in ships, and prisons, 
and overcrowded tenement houses; carrying burden- 
some crosses over hills of difficulty in the valley of 
humiliation; and climbing mountains of sacrifice in 
shops and schools and kitchens and among the habi- 
tations of cruelty; unseen by all the world, yet all the 
while distilling the oil of joy from mourning, weaving 
the garment of praise out of the spirit of heaviness, 
and transforming the black ashes of their earthly 
hopes into bridal diadems of beauty. And these are 
the largest and noblest army of martyrs, and, in the 
day of disclosures, theirs shall be the "far more ex- 
ceeding and eternal weight of glory." "One of the 
elders answered, saying unto me, What are these 
which are arrayed in white robes? and whence come 
they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And 
he said unto nie, These are they which came out of 
« I Sam. ii. 30. 



102 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and 
made them white in the blood of the Lamb." ' 

A minister may be celebrated as a preacher, and 
wise to win souls; he may be another Apollos, "an 
eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures," ■ and 
thronging thousands, in many lands, may listen with 
delight to "the glorious Gospel of the blessed God," 3 
as it comes from his golden mouth, and wherever he 
goes he may gather flocks of men into the fold of 
the good Shepherd. He may be an author, as well 
as a preacher, and his books may be translated and 
published in other languages than his own; and so 
his usefulness may be extended into every part of 
the world, and perpetuated to the end of time. But 
never having suffered much for the sake of Christ, 
he may sit in heaven far, far below some meek and 
lowly child of grace who, perhaps, could neither read 
nor write, and who was scarcely known, but through 
whose holy soul the streams of sorrow flowed most 
freely, calling forth faith and patience in their perfec- 
tion of beauty: "so the last shall be first and the first 
last." 4 

Mary was an aged Christian, who suffered contin- 
ually from rheumatism, and supported herself by sell- 
ing apples and cakes and candies at the corner of 
the street. One day a distinguished judge stopped 
at the stand and thus addressed her: "Mary, my 
friend, do you not get tired sitting here these cold 
dismal days?" And she said, "It is only a little while, 

' Kev. vii. 13, 14. 2 Acts xviii. 24. 

3 I Tim. i. 11. ^ Mat. xx. 16. 



OUR LIGHT AFFLICTION. 103 

sir." "And these hot, dusty days?" said the judge. 
And she said again, "It is only a little while, sir." 
"And the rainy, drizzly days?" said the judge. And 
she answered yet again, saying the same words, " It 
is only a little while, sir." "And your sick, rheu- 
matic days ? " said the judge. And she answered 
once more, saying with the emphasis of earnestness, 
" It is only a little while, sir." 

" Well, Mary, after this little while, as you call it, 
is over, what then ? " asked the judge. And Mary 
clasped her twisted hands together, as best she could, 
and lifted up her weeping eyes to heaven and said, 
" Oh then, sir, I shall enter into the rest that remain- 
eth for the people of God ! there the inhabitant shall 
not say I am sick ; and God shall wipe away all 
tears from these eyes; and there shall be no more 
death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there 
be any more pain, for the former things are passed 
away, and there will be fulness of joy and pleasures 
for evermore. It is only a little while, sir, and all 
this shall be mine." 

Dearly beloved and longed-for, men and brethren, 
sinners as well as saints, my heart's desire and prayer 
to God for you all is, that in a little while all this 
may be yours. xVnd it may be yours : the strait gate 
is the gate of heaven, and the narrow way is the 
widest street in the New Jerusalem; and you may 
walk on the golden pavements now, rich in poverty, 
and sorrowful, yet always rejoicing "in hope of the 
glory of God." 1 

• Rom. v. 2. 



104 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

And then, last of all and best of all, when a few 
more days shall dawn and darken, when a few more 
suns shall shine and set, you shall see the face of 
your Beloved Saviour looking unto you from the win- 
dow of the marriage mansion in the Father's house; 
and you shall hear his voice calling you by name, 
and saying, so sweetly : " Rise up, my love, my fair 
one, and come away. For, lo, the winter is past, 
the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the 
earth ; the time of the singing of birds is come, and 
the voice of the turtle is heard in our land ; the fig- 
tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with 
the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, 
my fair one, and come away." 1 

i Cant. ii. 10-13. 



ANTICIPATING TROUBLE. 



CHAPTER V. 



"And tliey said among themselves, WJio shall roll us away the stone 
from the door of the sepulchre?"- — Mark xvi. 3. 



IX His living day, our Lord Jesus encountered va- 
rious classes of enemies ; but it is worthy of spe- 
cial remark, and everlasting remembrance, that none 
of these ever included a woman. On the contrary, 
the women often provided for His wants, and were 
counted among His best friends and followers. As 
He went through "every city and village, preach- 
ing and showing the glad tidings of the kingdom 
of God," 1 the twelve went with Him; "And certain 
women, which had been healed of evil spirits and 
infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom 
went seven devils, and Joanna the wife of Chuza 
Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others, 
which ministered unto Him of their substance." 2 It 
was a woman who washed His feet with her tears 
and wiped them with the hairs of her head: "Be- 
bold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when 
she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's 
house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, and 
stood at His feet behind Him weeping, and began 
to wash His feet with tears, and did wipe them 
1 Luke viii. 1. s Luke viii. 3. 



IOS BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

with the hairs of her head, and kissed His feet, 
and anointed them with the ointment." 1 It was a 
woman who anointed His body beforehand for its 
burial: "Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the 
house of Simon the leper, there came unto Him a 
woman having an alabaster box of very precious 
ointment, and poured it on His head, as He sat at 
meat:" 2 and the house was filled with the odor of the 
ointment. It was a woman who interceded for Him 
when He was put on trial for His life. As soon 
as Pilate ascended the "judgment seat, his wife sent 
unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that 
just man : for I have suffered many things this day 
in a dream because of Him." 3 Women composed the 
weeping part of the multitude that accompanied Him 
to Calvary: "There followed Him a great company 
of people, and of women, which also bewailed and 
lamented Him." 4 Women were gathered round the 
cross when He was crucified: "Now there stood by 
the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother's sis- 
ter, Mary the wife of Cleophas and Mary Magda- 
lene." 6 "And many women were there beholding 
afar off, which followed Jesus from Galilee, minister- 
ing unto Him:" 6 "And sitting down they watched 
Him there." 7 Women formed a large part of His 
funeral procession : " The women also, which came 
with Him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld 
the sepulchre, and how His body was laid." 8 

' Luke vii. 37, 38. 2 Mat. xxvi. 6, 7, and John xii. 3. 

3 Mat. xxvii. 19. * Luke xxiii. 27. 6 John xix. 25. 

c Mat. xxvii. 55. "> Mat. xxvii. 36. s Luke xxiii. 55. 



ANTICIPATING TROUBLE. IO9 

These "honorable women" 1 never lost sight of 
their Lord till His body was laid in the tomb ; then 
they returned to their sorrowful homes. But know- 
ing the necessaiy haste with which the last rites 
had been performed, some of them proposed to come 
again to the sepulchre after the Sabbath, to dispose 
the sacred body of their Eedeemer, in a more orderly 
manner, for the place of peaceful rest, which it had 
reached at last. 

The Sabbath ended at sunset, and they spent the 
evening in purchasing and preparing the "sweet 
spices " with which they desired and expected to com- 
plete the embalmment already commenced. That 
night, how long it seemed ! Its weary hours went 
slowly by, and held their eyes waking, as they watched 
and wished for day. They could scarcely wait till 
the fourth watch was ended, and so, when it was 
yet dark, as it began to dawn, "very early in the 
morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the 
spices which they had prepared, and certain others 
with them." 2 

After they had started, and as they went, it oc- 
curred to them that there was an obstacle which 
might, perhaps, hinder them from accomplishing 
their pious and praiseworthy purpose. There was a 
stone against the door of the sepulchre. They knew 
that it was there: they had seen it there; but in the 
multitude of their thoughts it seems to have been 
forgotten It was remembered however before they 
reached the tomb. They thought about it by the 
1 Acts xvii. 12. * Luke xxiv. 1. 



IIO BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

way ; they talked about it by the way. It was the 
theme of earnest conversation: "They said among 
themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from 
the door of the sepulchre ? " 

There was much anxiety in their minds, and they 
could not help speaking to one another about it. I 
can almost see them in the early morning of that best 
day that ever dawned. They are coming near to the 
place which is called Calvary, and their faces are 
set towards Joseph's garden. They are going to the 
grave of their dear departed Lord, on an errand of 
love, bringing their sweet spices, "that they might 
come and anoint Him." 1 They are looking sadly ; 
they are walking slowly, and at times they seem ab- 
sent-minded. They are engaged in earnest, anxious 
conversation concerning the stone, which, they re- 
member now, was rolled over against the door of the 
sepulchre. They entertain and express their doubts 
and fears about its removal, and think that, perhaps, 
after all, their " labor of love " will be in vain. But 
strange to say, they do not turn back. They do not 
even stop ; but still hold on their way, hoping against 
hope; "perplexed, but not in despair:" 2 "and when 
they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away." ' 
The difficulty which they anticipated was anticipated 
in heaven, and removed before they reached it: "For 
the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and 
came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat 
upon it. " 4 

i Mark xvi. 1. « II Cor. iv. 8. 

3 Mark xvi. i. 4 Mat. xxviii. 2. 



ANTICIPATING TROUBLE. Ill 

Anticipating trouble is therefore the subject sug- 
gested by the text, and introduced to you by these 
preliminary remarks. It presents to us a richer har- 
vest of thought than we shall be able to reap in half 
an hour. We will enter the field however and put in 
the sickle, and bind a few bundles, believing that we 
"shall doubtless come again with rejoicing," 1 bring- 
ing our sheaves with us. 

It is not always wrong to anticipate trouble. This 
is the first handful of grain that falls before us. Come 
and let us gather it up. And here we want you to 
mark our language well. It is not always wrong to 
anticipate trouble. It is often wrong but not always. 
If it were always wrong, then indeed, we would be 
sinners above all men, because most of our troubles 
are of this very kind. The real burdens of to-day are 
not so many as the anticipated burdens of to-morrow. 
The real trials of the present are not so overwhelm- 
ing as the imaginary trials of the future. The sorrow 
that we feel is never so great as the sorrow that we 
fear. 

"To fear is harder than to weep; 

To watch, than to endure; 

The hardest of all griefs to bear 

Is a grief that is not sure." 

We may be comparatively happy and prosperous in 
the present time; but we are looking to the future, 
and living in the future, more than in the present; 
and if' we were looking forward with faith and hope 
we might still be happy in the anticipation of trouble; 
1 Ps. exxvi. 6. 



112 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

but these twin graces generally fail us, when we cross 
the margin of the present moment, and we are cast 
down and disquieted with visionary fears and ground- 
less forebodings. "The slothful man saith, There is 
a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets." 1 

We have no doubt that most of our trials would 
vanish away if only we could live literally as the 
Saviour has told us in this sweet Scripture: "Take 
therefore no thought for the morrow : for the morrow 
shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient 
unto the day is the evil thereof." 2 And we would 
like to live so. But, then, there is no use of wishing, 
because we can not live so. We can not shut out the 
future entirely from our minds; this is quite impos- 
sible, and almost every thing we do has reference to 
it. And in the anticipation of some troubles at least, 
there is no sin. 

Painful apprehensions of coming sorrow may be 
caused by the condition of the body. Our several 
members have the same care one for another: "and 
whether one member suffer, all the members suffer 
with it," 3 and the mind suffers more than all the 
members. There is such an intimate relation be- 
tween the mind and the body, and they sympathize 
so much with each other, that when we are sick in 
body we can not help feeling downcast in mind. 
What if this sickness should be long! who would 
look after my business? What if this sickness should 
be unto death ! who would take care of my poor fam- 
ily? There may be want of faith in such troubled 
i Prov. xxii. 13. 2 Mat. vi. 34. 3 I Cor. xii. 26. 



ANTICIPATING TROUBLE. H3 

thoughts as these; but surely there can be no sin. 
There may be much sin however in former neglect to 
lay by in store something for just such emergencies. 
"Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, 
and be wise; which having no guide, overseer, or 
ruler, provideth her meat in the summer, and gath- 
ereth her food in the harvest." ! "If any man pro- 
vide not for his own, and specially for those of his 
own house, he hath denied the faith and is worse 
than an infidel." 2 

What man is there in all the world who has ever 
thought of charging these holy women with sin for 
their serious apprehensions concerning the stone at 
the door of their Saviour's sepulchre ? They knew 
that it was there, and by the way they wondered 
whether it would be removed. They anticipated 
trouble from it, and expressed their apprehensions 
to one another: "they said among themselves, Who 
shall roll us away the stone from the door of the 
sepulchre ? " And in their conduct we can see noth- 
ing worthy of condemnation; but on the contrary we 
think they can not be too highly commended for their 
becoming anxiety. 

Anticipating trouble ought not to turn us aside 
from the path of duty, and, when it shall be gleaned, 
this thought will form our second sheaf. These three 
devoted women expected to encounter a great diffi- 
culty. The stone at the door of the sepulchre might 
prove a serious hindrance to the accomplishment of 
their hopes. Indeed to their troubled minds it must 

1 Prov. vi. 6-8. 2 I Tim. v. 8. 

8 



114 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

have seemed an insurmountable obstacle. But what 
did they do under these circumstances? Did they 
return to their sorrowful homes? No. Did they sit 
down by the road-side and weep, saying, "It will be 
utterly useless for us to go any further, because we 
will never be able to enter the sepulchre?" No. 
Did they hesitate about going forward? Not for a 
moment. They did well to think about the diffi- 
culty; they did better to persevere in the path of 
duty; and when they reached the tomb the stone was 
rolled away, and they saw a vision of angels, and 
Jesus Himself alive again from the dead and walking 
in the garden : and unto them it was given to return 
witli joy, and bring the glad tidings to His disciples' 
"as they mourned and wept." 1 God was better to 
them than their fears. He is always better to His 
blood-bought people than their fears, and when they 
are ready to perish He runs to their rescue ; and there 
is nothing that surprises them so much as the won- 
derful manner in which He delivers them out of all 
their distresses. 

When the children of Israel were going up out 
of their house of bondage, in the very beginning of 
their mysterious journey, they came into great trouble. 
The same night they reached the shore of the Eed 
Sea, they discovered that they were so hedged about 
with dangers and difficulties that their doom seemed 
to be sealed. There were hills and mountains on 
both their flanks; the deep and wide sea was in their 
front ; and an army of six hundred thousand men was 
i Mark xvi. 10. 



ANTICIPATING TROUBLE. 115 

in their rear. What shall they do ? which way shall 
they fly ? how shall they escape ? To turn to the 
right hand or to the left would be impossible, to ad- 
vance would be self-destruction, and to retreat would 
be equally disastrous. 

Under these circumstances it is no marvel that they 
began to murmur and talk about their graves, saying 
to Moses, " Because there were no graves in Egypt, 
hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness ? " 1 
"And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand 
still, and see the salvation of the Lord." 2 "And the 
Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto 
me? speak unto the children of Israel that they go 
forward." 3 Go forward! what solemn mockery! Avhat 
downright madness, to march straight into the raging 
sea and drown and die ! But it was not mockery nor 
madness; nay, what seemed the way of death was 
the way of life; for as they went forward the sea 
fled before them. On either side, the waves of water 
stood still, the one above the other, like stones of 
solid masonry, and all the people went through to 
Hi'' other side without wetting the soles of their feet; 
"By faith they passed through the lied Sea as by 
dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were 
drowned." ' 

It was a time of desperate sorrow in the royal 
palace at Shnslian and in all the city, and throughout 
all tin- provinces <>f the Persian empire when that 
bloody edict, consigning the dews to destruction, was 

' Exod. xiv. 11. 2 Exod. xiv. 13. 

a Exod. xiv. 15. < Heb. xi. 29. 



H6 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

signed and sealed and sent out by the king into 
every part of his vast realm reaching "from India 
even unto Ethiopia." 1 By a law of the kingdom 
the decree, thus ratified and published, could not be 
changed. By the language of the dreadful document 
the very day was set for the slaughter: and, speaking 
after the manner of men, the hated Hebrews were 
as good as dead. In the one hundred and twenty- 
seven provinces of the dominion the "people scat- 
tered abroad," 2 read their doom in these words of the 
royal proclamation : " to destroy, to kill, and to cause 
to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little chil- 
dren and women in one day, even upon the thir- 
teenth day of the twelfth month." 3 

But on the side of the oppressed was Omnipotence,- 
and the hated Hebrews were His own peculiar peo- 
ple; "of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came;" 4 
and in His good providence He had brought "a great 
woman " 5 to the kingdom for such a time, as this, and 
Esther was her name. Till recently she had been a 
stranger in a strange land and a slave ; but now her 
home was in the king's house at Shushan, and she 
was the queen, and shared "a great crown of gold" 6 
with her husband. 

The scattered people had a friend at court — one 
of their own number represented them there. The 
emergency was great, but this handmaid of the Lord 
was equal to it. Queen Esther counted the cost and 

i Esth. i. 1. 2 Esth. iii. 8. 

3 Esth. iii. 13. 4 Rom. ix. 5. 

6 II Kings iv. 8. 6 Esth. viii. 15. 



ANTICIPATING TROUBLE. WJ 

nobly resolved to sacrifice her own life, if it must be 
so, for the salvation of her people. Whichever way 
she looked death was impending. As she belonged 
to the proscribed race, she must perish with them, 
if they perished. To go into the king's presence un- 
bidden she might die; and should he not hold out 
the golden sceptre to her she must die. 

Such was the situation, desperate enough, indeed; 
but after days of fasting and prayer, the brave and 
beautiful queen, with her life in her hand and her 
foot on her grave, passes into the king's apartment 
of the palace, saying, " If I perish, I perish." x Aston- 
ished and alarmed at the unbidden and unexpected 
presence of her most gracious majesty, "the nobles 
and princes of the provinces" 2 stand aside, and up 
through the shining ranks she presses boldly to the 
throne, and prostrates herself at her husband's feet; 
and as the golden sceptre is extended her fears take 
flight She has gained her life, and shall gain it 
again, and the life of her nation as well. Her be- 
loved husband and her heavenly Bridegroom were 
both better to her than her fears. 

As Christian men and women we have a journey 
to go and a work to do for the Master, and in striv- 
ing to accomplish these we may expect to meet with 
many difficulties; but no matter how many, nor how 
great they may be, we ought not to turn aside from 
tin- path of duty. "The children of Ephraim, being 
armed and carrying bows, turned back in the day of 
hat tie." 3 That was a cowardly thing for the children 
i Esth. iv. 10. 2 Estb. i. 3. 3 Ps. lxxviii. 9. 



Il8 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

of Ephraim to do, in the day of battle, when they 
were expected to advance against the enemy. But 
it would be no less cowardly for us to turn aside from 
the discharge of our duty when it would be difficult, 
and perhaps dangerous. 

Our difficulties are good school-masters; they teach 
us how little we know, how weak we are, and where 
our strength lies; and as bodily exercise and buffet- 
ing the storm makes us stronger and stronger, so 
by striving to overcome obstacles, which seem an 
overmatch for us, we develop our spiritual strength. 
And if only we will persevere, and still press on 
with full purpose of heart to encounter the antici- 
pated difficulty, before w r e reach it, it may vanish 
from our view, and if it should not, God's grace shall 
be sufficient for us, making us more than equal to 
the greatest emergency. "In all these tilings we are 
more than conquerors through Him that loved us." 1 

Years ago, in this region of country, there was a 
total eclipse of the sun. It was very unexpected, 
and night coming at noon caused great consternation 
among the common people; and the hearts of even the 
wisest men were failing them for fear. The legisla- 
ture of a neighboring state was in session at the time, 
and the sudden darkness surprised the members very 
much, and actually interrupted their proceedings. 
Some said one thing and some another, and many of 
them wanted to adjourn, when one of them arose in 
his place and said: "Mr. Speaker, either the day of 
judgment has come or it has not come; if it has not 
• Rom. viii. 37. 



ANTICIPATING TROUBLE. 119 

come, there is no need to adjourn, and if it has come, 
I, for one, prefer to be found in my place in the 
discharge of my duty when the Master appears. I 
therefore more you that candles be brought, and that 
we proceed with our business." This motion pre- 
vailed immediately, the candles were procured and 
lighted, and the business went on as usual; and in a 
little while the temporary darkness disappeared. 

The heroic determination of that noble man is the 
spirit Avith which we should address ourselves to the 
duties that devolve upon us; determined to persevere 
in the chosen way of God no matter how steep or 
rough or thorny it may be; delayed by no darkness, 
daunted by no disaster, distressed by no difficulty; 
and so pressing on through night and winter and 
storm we shall find that the path of duty is the 
path of honor. Let us decline to walk therein, by 
reason of its difficulty, and we will miss magnificent 
results which would more than make amends for all 
our toils. Through darkness and distress the way to 
light and glory lies. "I will bring the blind by a way 
that they knew not: I will lead them in paths that 
they have not known: I will make darkness light be- 
fore them, and crooked things straight. These things 
will I do unto them, and not forsake them." 1 

Had these holy women entertained their fears, and 
refused to go any further by reason of the stone at 
the door of the sepulchre, behold, how much joy and 

peace and honor they would have missed! They 

would have missed a vision of angels; they would 
' Isa. xlii. 10. 



120 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

have missed a pleasant interview with Jesus Him- 
self; they would have missed the special honor of 
being sent to announce the resurrection to the world. 
Their best hopes were far exceeded in the glorious 
results of their visit to the Saviour's tomb. They 
hardly expected to be able to embalm the dead body 
of their Beloved; but they beheld Him alive: they 
saw His face, and heard His voice, and with great 
joy they departed, "and did run to bring His disci- 
ples word." 1 

In like manner, with fear and trembling we may 
address ourselves to the duties which devolve upon 
us as Christians. To speak a word for Christ, or to 
give "a cup of cold water onh*," 2 in His name may 
be all that we can do. And in our sight these may 
seem like small things, and we may feel sorry that 
Ave can do no more; but no man on earth, nor angel 
iu heaven, can tell the magnificent results that may 
follow such feeble efforts. Not unfrequently we are 
permitted, even here, to reap an hundred-fold from 
such poor sowing. The word fitly spoken was quite 
forgotten till we found it again in the heart of a 
friend to whom it proved a word in season ; and the 
cup of cold water only came back in a crown of re- 
joicing more to be desired than any royal diadem. 

When persevering in the path of duty, anticipating 
many and great difficulties, and hoping against hope, 
how often has God met us with pleasant surprises ! 
How often has He been better to us than our fears ! 
better even than our faith, doing more for us than we 
i Mat, xxviii. 8. 2 Mat. x. 42. 



ANTICIPATING TROUBLE. 121 

were able to believe 1 We can never tell how much 
our poorest works may be glorified by the Master, 
nor what great wages He may be pleased to pay for 
our smallest services. 

One day when Jesus was in the temple, sitting 
over against the treasury, He saw the people coming 
with their offerings: "and many that were rich cast 
in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and 
she threw in two mites, which make a farthing." 1 
Many poor widows would have been ashamed to con- 
tribute so little, and she doubtless felt sorry that her 
offering was so small. But Christ proclaimed the 
truth when He said, "This poor widow hath cast 
more in, than all they which have cast into the treas- 
ury: for all they did cast in of their abundance; but 
she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all 
her living." "Little sometimes weighs more than 
much." 

When Mary of Bethany poured the precious oint- 
ment on her Saviour's head she did it as a simple 
expression of her personal love. She had no thought 
that she was anointing Him beforehand for His burial; 
and that her loving-kindness would be commended so 
much and remembered so long and told throughout 
the whole world "for a memorial of her." 2 

When the disciples were in a desert place with 
Jesus and the multitude was great, and there was 
nothing for them to eat, none of them but Andrew 
noticed the lad with his basket (4' barley Loaves, and 
even la' seems to have thought very little of them, 

1 Murk xii. 41, 42. 2 Murk xiv. 9. 



122 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

for he speaks about them with something like dis- 
dain: "There is a lad here, which hath five barley- 
loaves, and two small fishes : but what are they among 
so many ? " l But the Master commanded them to 
be brought to Him, and when He had blest them He 
broke them, and passing through His wonder-working 
hands they multiplied and grew till they fed " about 
five thousand men, beside women and children"; 2 
and when all was over "they took up of the frag- 
ments that remained twelve baskets full." So our 
smallest gifts, and our feeblest efforts, may result in 
greater good and greater glory than we had dared to 
hope, if only they are given and done for Him who 
is able to do with them, "exceeding abundantly 
above all that we ask or think." 3 

Anticipating trouble ought not to destroy our trust 
in God; it should rather increase our faith, and this 
will bring us to the end of our barley harvest. In 
the case now passing under review these women 
seem to have been thoroughly assured that the stone 
Avould be taken away by somebody. "It was very 
great;" 4 and in their womanly weakness they did 
not think of removing it themselves. They did not 
say to one another, How shall Ave roll it away: but, 
"Who shall roll us away the stone?" It was sealed: 
in some way Pilate's seal was affixed thereon making 
it a capital crime to attempt its removal; "so they 
went and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone." 5 
It was also watched: "setting a watch." A band of 

' John vi. 9. 2 Mat. xiv. 21. s Eph. iii. 20. 

4 Mark xvi. 4. 5 Mat. xxvii. 66. 



AXTICIPATING TROUBLE. 1 23 

steel-clad soldiers was put on guard at the grave to 
prevent any one from taking it away. And yet, not- 
withstanding all these anticipated difficulties, their 
trust was not destroyed. By faith these women went 
unto the sepulchre, notwithstanding the seal, and not 
fearing the soldiers, accounting that God was able 
to roll away the stone; and their faith was honored 
abundantly. And this simple trust in God, which 
they manifested so much, is what we most need for 
our comfort and support. The want of it makes us 
anxious and unhappy, "careful and troubled about 
many things." 1 We are thinking too much for our- 
selves when we ought to let God think for us alto- 
gether; saying, what shall we eat, and what shall we 
drink and wherewithal shall we be clothed? when 
God sows for us, and reaps for us, and weaves for 
us. We are forgetful of Him and fly from Him in 
the cloudy and dark day, when this should be the 
clinging language of our cleaving heart: "Though 
He slay me, yet will I trust in Him." 2 

If we are Christians, our sorrows should strengthen 
our faith, because trials, whether present or in pros- 
pect, are the best food for faith. Believing is easy 
enough when there is nothing else that we can do. 
When it is so dark that we can not see to walk by 
sight, we can see better to walk by faith, and total 
darkness is faith's best telescope. When we are rich 
and prosperous, and our health is good, there is very 
little room for the exercise of faith. But when sick- 
ness cornea, and adversity, and poverty, then faith 
1 Luke x. 41. * Job xiii. 15. 



124 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

rises and shines clear as a star, when only one is 
shining in the sky. When all the natural sources 
of comfort fail us, and the nether springs are dry, 
we will betake ourselves to the upper springs, the 
fountain that never fails. When there is no one else 
to look to, and lean on, we can not help looking to 
God and leaning on Him. And blessed be His glo- 
rious name forever, "none of them that trust in Him 
shall be desolate." 1 The relation which we sustain to 
Him, and the promises He has made to us, ought to 
increase our confidence in Him, and minister strong 
consolation whatever betide. 

Why, just think what God is to us! God the Father 
is our rich Father, and " If ye then, being evil, know 
how to give good gifts unto your children, how much 
more shall your Father which is in heaven give good 
things to them that ask Him." 2 And God the Son 
is our Elder Brother, and our best friend: a friend in 
winter as well as summer, a friend who loveth at 
all times, a brother "born for adversity." 3 And God 
the Holy Ghost is our best Comforter; and when 
troubles rise, and storms appear, the Heavenly Dove 
makes haste to come down on swiftest wings, to be 
beforehand in our hearts, to fill them with perfect 
peace, and fortify them against future fears. When 
we walk in darkness, the Three in One is our glorious 
light; and when we walk in danger, the One in Three 
is our strong defence: "For the Lord God is a sun 
and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no 
good thing will He withhold from them that walk 
i Ps. xxxiv. 22. 2 Mat. vii. 11. 3 Prov. xvii. 17. 



ANTICIPATING TROUBLE. I25 

uprightly. Lord God of hosts, blessed is the man 
that trusteth in thee." ' 

Let us learn therefore, dearly beloved, to trust in 
God and in Him alone. Let us be persuaded to look 
away from all others, and from ourselves also, and to 
look always to Him, and He will be the strength of 
our weakness, the light of our darkness, and the joy 
of our sorrow. Without this child-like trust in our 
heavenly Father, we are nothing, and can do nothing 
and endure nothing. But with it, we are omnipotent 
and can do all things and endure all things. Faith's 
hands are strong enough to roll away the greatest 
stones and remove the highest mountains: "If ye 
have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say 
unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; 
and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible 
unto you." 2 "Lord, Increase our faith."* 

The conclusion of the whole matter may be briefly 
stated in these words of the apostle, "Rejoice in the 
Lord always:" 4 with this text you may now bind our 
sheaves together and carry them home, and go on 
your way rejoicing. 

Cheerfulness is a Christian duty, and it is delight- 
ful to know that joy and peace are among the first 
fruits of the Spirit, " the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, 
peace." 6 These should be cherished and cultivated 
because they are indispensable to our happiness and 
usefulness, and we might have them always, if only 

» Ps. lxxxiv. 11, 12. 2 Mat. xvii. 20. 

3 Luke xvii. 5. * Phil. iv. 4. 

» Gal. iv. 22. 



126 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

we would live constantly casting ourselves upon Him 
who careth for us. The peace of faith is the greatest 
peace, it is perfect and passeth all understanding; 
and the joy of faith is the greatest jo}% it is "un- 
speakable and full of glory." 1 Each of these graces is 
better than good, and in substance they are the same. 
Peace is love reposing in the soul, and joy is love 
exulting there; and cheerfulness is the well-chosen 
word that binds the two together. 

As, therefore, Jesus said to His disciples in the storm, 
" Be of good cheer," 2 so say I to you. Be of good 
cheer always and everywhere, in your darkest nights 
and deepest griefs, and in the wildest winter weather. 
When the United States fleet stood off the coast of 
North Carolina, the water was troubled and exceed- 
ingly tossed, by reason of a great wind that blew, 
and it was night; but as the waves rose, in their rage, 
they became phosphorescent, and changed the stormy 
sea into a sea of glory ; so your brightest joys should 
leap up out of the very sorrows of your souls. 

The bird that soars the highest builds her nest upon 
the ground; and the bird that sings the sweetest 
sings in the night ; and when we are sinking down in 
the dark depths, by the grace of God, we may rise 
above them and soar away, higher than the skylark, 
up into the brightest shining of the Sun of righteous- 
ness, singing, as we soar, sweeter than the night- 
ingale: "Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, 
neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the 
olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the 
• I Pet. 1, 8. 2 Mat. xiv. 27. 



ANTICIPATING TROUBLE. 1 27 

flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be 
no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I 
will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God 
is my strength, and He will make my feet like hinds' 
feet, and He will make me to walk upon mine high 
places." 1 

Along the pathway of Christian experience there is 
a lofty plain where all is peace : a lovely land of Beu- 
lali where the air is sweet and pleasant and the birds 
are always singing; Avhere the flowers never fade and 
the sun is always shining; where Giant Despair can 
never enter, and from which Doubting Castle can not 
be so much as seen. In the Pilgrim's Progress this 
happy land is properly located near the end of the 
pilgrimage, because the most of Christians never reach 
it till the journey is almost over; nevertheless there 
are some who come to it much sooner; and this is a 
faithful saying, if only our trust in God was strong 
enough, the very next step would bring us into that 
blessed land, and we might dwell there with great 
delight all the clays of our lives. "Thou wilt keep 
him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: 
because he trusteth in thee." 2 

When tribulations abound, we long for heaven: for 
the peace and joy of heaven. But though we can not 
have heaven itself, Faith and Hope — our good spies, 
like Caleb and Joshua — may go before us, and search 
out the land of praises, and bring us back as much as 
they can carry of its peace and joy, and more than 
we can bear : as is illustrated in the experience of an 
1 Ilab. iii. 17-19. 2 Isa. xxvi. 3. 



128 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

Indian saint, who under the power of full assurance 
was heard saying in his prayer, " 0, my God, do not 
for pity so overjoy me ! if I must still live and have 
such consolations do take me to heaven." Such hap- 
piness may be ours now, and for us to go through 
this world, doubting, desponding, and despairing like 
strangers and slaves and prisoners, casting shadows 
on the shining way, is bringing reproach -on our 
holy and happy religion. As it has been well said, 
"It is impious for a good man to be sad;" therefore I 
say unto you, "Eejoice in the Lord always." 1 What 
then? "and again I say, Rejoice." 

"The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: the Lord 
make His face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto 
thee: the Lord lift up His countenance upon thee, 
and give thee peace." 5 

' Phil. iv. 4. 2 Num. vi. 24-26. 



OUR SURE SUPPLIES. 



CHAPTER VI. 

"My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory 
by Christ Jesus." — Phil. iv. 19. 

K T7*VERY house is builcled by some man; but He 
J—-' that built all things is God." 1 "For the invis- 
ible things of Him from the creation of the world are 
clearly seen, being understood by the things that are 
made, even His eternal power and Godhead." 2 Along 
every road, in every field, and on every side, we see 
the footprints of a mighty God, " and the firmament 
showeth His handy work." 3 

We do not need the Bible to learn the doctrine 
of the Divine existence. We have only to open our 
eyes, and we will see God's name written so plain on 
every page of the book of creation that those who 
run may read it, and "the wayfaring men, though 
fools, shall not err therein." 4 Nay, more, if we had 
been born blind and deaf and dumb we could feel 
after God and find Him in our own being and give 
Him glory. "I will praise thee; for I am fearfully 
and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; 
and that my soul knoweth right well." 5 

The stars, the rainbow, and the flowers, these are 
the big, the bright, and the beautiful letters that spell 
the name of God; and the rumbling thunder, the rag- 
in-- sea, and the rushing wind pronounce it. 

1 Heb. iii. 4. * Kom. i. 20. 3 Pa. xix. 1. 

* Isa. xxxv. 8. 6 Ps. cxxxix. 14. 



132 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

*' The meanest pin in nature's frame 
Marks out some letter of His name. 
Across the earth, around the sky, 
There's not a spot in deep, on high, 
Where the Creator hath not trod, 
And left the footsteps of a God." 

Oh yes ! there are a thousand evidences of the 
Divine existence. They are in the heights above and 
in the depths below. The heavens and the earth are 
full of them, and it is an easy thing to say, God ; we 
can not help saying it. Heathen men can not help 
saying it, because they see and feel and know that 
God is. But though it be so easy to say, God, it is 
not so easy to say, my God. Every man can say, God, 
but every man can not say, my God. There are some 
people who would give all that they possess if they 
could address the Almighty with so much assurance, 
and with such personal language of appropriating 
love as this : " The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, 
and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I 
will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my strength, 
and my high tower." 1 They believe in God the Fa- 
ther Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in 
Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord, and in the Holy 
Ghost. But kneeling on their knees and lifting up 
their clasped hands to the holy place where His 
honor dwelleth they can not say, "This God is our 
God forever arid ever: He will be our guide even 
unto death." 2 

Yes, any body, and every body, can say, God; but 
i Ps. xviii. 2. 2 Ps. xlviii. 14. 



OUR SURE SUPPLIES. 1 33 

only the Christian can say, my God. We trust there 
are many Christians here, who can make all their own, 
these bold words with which the text begins. To all 
such we are coming with a message from heaven. 
Our text is a bundle of myrrh, and, dearly beloved, 
having brought it to you, we now propose to unbind 
it for you, that you may taste and see how sweet and 
comforting are its several thoughts, and that by them 
you may be encouraged to go on your way rejoicing. 

And of these sweet and precious thoughts the first 
is this, that God is the source of our supplies. My 
God and your God will supply your need and mine. 
" God, even our own God, shall bless us." x He 
shall bless us from His own store-house in heaven. 
" Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above 
and cometh down from the Father of lights, with 
whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turn- 
ing." 2 All our temporal and spiritual blessings — our 
daily bread and our daily grace, our raiment to put 
on, and the robe of Christ's righteousness to cover 
all our sins- — are the gifts of God. They come from 
above. The Father of all sends them to us. It makes 
no matter who brings them nor how they come, they 
come from God. The rills and rivers of pleasure rise 
in His almighty love. "All my springs are in Thee." 3 

When Elijah was hiding by the brook Cherith the 
ravens came flying to him, twice a day, with his morn- 
ing and evening meal; and after -the brook failed, he 
amis sent to Zarephath where a poor widow provided 
for his wants. But it was not so much the widow 
1 Ps. lxvii. C. 2 James i. 17. 3 Ps. lxxxvii. 7. 



134 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

who provided for the prophet as the widow's God ; it 
was not so much the ravens that "brought him bread 
and flesh " beside the brook as He who feeds the 
ravens when they cry. When he was sent to the 
brook, God said to him, "I have commanded the ra- 
vens to feed thee there." 1 And when he was sent 
to Zarephath, God said again, " I have commanded a 
widow woman there to sustain thee." 2 

At another time, when this same prophet was weary, 
and so cast down and discouraged that he wanted 
to die, he fell asleep under a juniper-tree, and as he 
slept an angel came down from heaven bringing with 
him "a cruse of water"; and folding up his shining 
wings, he kindled a fire with his own hands, and 
baked a cake " on the coals," and waked the wayfar- 
ing man, saying, "Arise and eat; because the jour- 
ney is too great for thee. And he arose and did eat 
and drink, and went in the strength of that meat 
forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount 
of God." 3 

And although this lasting meal seems to have 
been specially provided and prepared for Elijah by 
his heavenly Father, who sent His angel on the 
errand, yet after all, it was no more from God, than 
when the widow baked the cake, or when the ravens 
brought it already baked. 

If not in the same manner, still Ave receive all our 
supplies from the same source. Our common bless- 
ings, .such as our food to eat, and our raiment to put 
on, are just as much from God as pardon of sin, and 

1 I Kings xvii. 4. 2 I Kings xvii. 9. »I Kings xix. 7, 8. 



OUR SURE SUPPLIES. 1 35 

the gift of the Holy Ghost. But then they are so 
common, and so constant, and keep coming with so 
much regularity, — year after year, and month after 
month, and week after week, and day after day, morn- 
ing, noon, and night, — that while we receive the gifts 
we forget the giver. The ordinary supplies of Prov- 
idence are regarded too much as a matter of course ; 
and though we sing His praise "from whom all 
blessings flow," His presence is quite overlooked, 
and we forget too frequently what a friend Ave have 
in heaven. 

Let us see if it be not so? Suppose the home we 
left in coming here to-day had grown up around us 
suddenly, and in the night, like Jonah's gourd; that 
some kind, wondrous power had flung about us each 
domestic joy that now makes that happy home all 
the paradise we have on earth ; that it had sent a low, 
sweet voice to call us husband, prattling voices to 
call us father, and a manly voice to call us friend; 
that every comfort that now sparkles in our daily 
life, like dewdrops upon flowers, had been like them 
the sudden creation of an hour. How strange, how 
wonderful, would it all appear ! And yet that home, 
those voices, those daily comforts that we occupy, 
listen to, and enjoy, are not the less wonderful, and as 
it wire miraculous, because they have risen up about 
us gradually aud in the course of years. They are 
just as much th<^ gift of God as if a legion of angels 
with visible hands had framed and built and planted 
them for us. 

Suppose when you rise in the morning you should 



136 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

find at your door a basket full of stores for the day's 
supply; and that you could be sure and certain that 
no human hand put it there; you would then have 
no difficulty in saying that God sent it. But be- 
cause He sends it in a less direct manner, you do 
not recognize His providence in it. When you go 
away and plough the ground, and sow the seed, and 
reap the grain, and take it to the mill, and bring 
home the flour, and bake the bread, you do not see 
the hand of God in it as plain as in the basket at the 
door. But, yet, the good hand of God is in the one 
as much as in the other. 

When the manna first fell in the wilderness it was 
a great wonder in the eyes of all the people ; and the 
first morning that they gathered it up, " Moses said 
unto them, This is the bread which the Lord hath 
given you to eat." 1 But it rained down everyday, 
except the Sabbath, and though it came from heaven 
every time, its coming was soon regarded as a matter 
of course, and it was contemplated rather as a nat- 
ural event, like the showers that refresh the earth. 

When the rock in Horeb was first smitten the 
"waters gushed out; they ran in dry places like a 
river," • and the timely relief was looked upon as a 
special interposition of Providence. But that rock 
"followed them. " 3 Its sparkling stream attended all 
their winding way, and for eight and thirty years 
they had no lack of water. And what was the con- 
sequence? why, they became unmindful and unthank- 
ful. And so are we. Yet, strange to say, in all our 
> Exod. xvi. 15. 2 Ps. cv. 41. 3 I Cor. x. 4. 



OUR SURE SUPPLIES. 1 37 

forgetfulness of God never doth He forget us. Of 
Him and through Him are all things that we enjoy; 
and " in Him we live, and move, and have our being, 
For we are all His offspring." l 

The certainty of our supplies is the next thought 
spoken of in the text: "My God shall supply your 
need." In the Scriptures of the Old and New Testa- 
ments, our heavenly Father has given unto us many 
"exceeding great and precious promises." 2 These 
promises relate to the body as well as the soul, to 
temporal as well as to spiritual things, to the beg- 
garly elements of earth as well as to the glorious 
riches of heaven; "having promise of the life that 
now is, and of that Avhich is to come." 3 These prom- 
ises are plain, positive, and sure. They are made to 
us by our heavenly Father; and, as if this were not 
security enough, they are confirmed "by an oath,"* 
and endorsed by the prevailing name of Jesus; " For 
all the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him 
Amen, unto the glory of God by us." 5 

As honest men we have much respect for the prom- 
ises we make; and some people are so particular and 
prompt in the fulfilment of every engagement that 
their word is said to be as good as their bond. They 
will do as they have promised, Providence permitting. 
But however sure we may be that our promises to 
one another shall be kept, we are never quite sure. 
No matter how great our confidence may be in one 
anot lur, il might be greater. Our word may be as 

' Acts xvii. 28. 2 II Pet. i. 4. 3 I Tim. iv. 8. 

* Heb. vi. 17. * II Cor. i. 20. 



138 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

good as our bond, but circumstances may occur un- 
der which neither of them will be good for any thing. 
There are so many peradventures in the way, that we 
may not be able to keep the promises that we have 
made to others, and they may not be able to keep the 
promises they have made to us. 

We need hardly tarry here to explain and illustrate 
this painful truth. Perhaps the last time we looked 
over our papers we saw a protest among them, or a 
note which was never paid, or a bill that never could 
be collected. And what are these but so many sting- 
ing evidences of the great uncertainty of human 
promises, which are broken often er than they are 
kept ? A hundred things may happen to hinder us 
from keeping our promises to one another. My health 
may fail ; my wealth may fly away ; and my friends 
may forsake me; or your business may take an unfa- 
vorable turn, your strong staff may be broken, and 
your dear husband may die. And when our supplies 
are so unexpectedly cut off how can we meet our 
engagements ? 

But, blessed be God, no contingency can break the 
covenant that He hath made with us. It is an "ever- 
lasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure." 1 It 
is surer than the rising and the setting sun, surer 
than the seed-time and the harvest, surer even than 
the heavens and the earth. Our God is a covenant 
keeper as well as a covenant maker. Have you not 
often seen His bow in the cloud, and have you not 
oftener read about it in the Bible ? It is His own 
1 II Sam. xxiii. 5. 



OUR SURE SUPPLIES. 1 39 

token of His own covenant that the world shall 
never be destroyed by another deluge. And no mat- 
ter how hard the rain may descend, no matter how 
high the water may rise in the river, Ave never fear 
another flood. And reasoning from the less to the 
greater, shall God keep the covenant of the bow, and 
shall he not rather keep the better covenant of the 
cross, "which was established upon better promises?" 1 
Shall He keep His covenant with this sinful world, 
which He has cursed with a curse? and shall He not 
rather keep His covenant with the saints for whom 
He shed His blood? Reasoning from the past to the 
present, shall God remember His promise to the pa- 
triarchs and prophets and apostles, and shall it be 
forgotten to us, His OAvn blood-bought, baptized, and 
believing children? Hark! an answer from the skies 
is sent, "The mountains shall depart, and the hills 
be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from 
thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be re- 
moved, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee." 2 

Yes, the mountains shall depart, and the hills be 
removed. In the consuming fires of the last day, they 
shall melt like wax, and even "the heavens shall pass 
away;*' 3 but the promises which God has made to His 
people shall never pass away: from the greatest to 
the leas! they shall be remembered and redeemed. If 
ordinary means will not be sufficient, miracles shall be 
wrought for their accomplishment. It' need be, birds 
<>l' prey shall forget their nature and bring them bread 

beside the brook; or an angel shall e 'down from 

' Hob. viii. 6. » Isa. liv. 10. a II Pet. iii. 1U. 



I40 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

heaven and bake them cakes. Iron shall "swim" 1 
for them that the "borrowed" axe may be restored; 
and if the day be not long enough for them to win 
the victory, the sun and moon shall stand " still in the 
midst of heaven," 2 till they are more than conquerors. 
The extent of our supplies is another thought con- 
tained in the text, "My God shall supply all your 
need." The supply as you will notice now is exceed- 
ing great. We have a rich Father in heaven, and 
there is not a temporal, or spiritual want, for which 
He has not made the most abundant provision. The 
fountain of His love is always full and overflowing, 
and always flowing down to us; and when we need 
it most it flows all the faster, like "streams from 
Lebanon:" 3 "For the Lord God is a sun and shield: 
the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing 
will He withhold from them that walk uprightly." 4 
"And God is able to make all grace abound towards 
you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all 
things, may abound to every good work." 5 Eight 
well we love and prize these promises, because they 
are so comprehensive, like the one now passing under 
review, "My God shall supply all your need." Not 
some of your need, but all of it. Do you need your 
daily bread? "Trust in the Lord, and do good; so 
shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be 
fed." 6 Do you need money to pay your tax? You 
shall surely have it. You may not know where it 
will come from, but it will come from somewhere. 

i II Kings vi. 6. 2 Josh. x. 13. 3 Cant, iv. 15. 

4 Ps. lxxxiv. 11. 5 II Cor. ix. 8. 6 Ps. xxxvii. 3. 



OUR SURE SUPPLIES. I41 

The barrel of meal may be quite empty, you may not 
have the widow's handful there; the cruse of oil may 
fail; and sorer still, there may be no money in the 
house : days ago the last penny was spent for meat 
or medicine ; but remember and forget it not, 

"Ravens once did cater to Elijah's need; 
And a fish for Peter tribute money paid." 

And, if there was no other way to supply 3 T our table 
and your purse with the bread and the money that 
you need, I believe that the birds of the air and the 
fish of the sea would be God's angels again and bring 
them to you. 

But then, only your need will be supplied, accord- 
ing to the promise. We all wish for many things 
that we do not want; and many things that are de- 
sirable for us we utterly despise. As for example we 
would like to be rich, and have money enough and to 
spare; but we do not need Avealth, and it might be a 
great curse to us: "For there be as many miseries be- 
yond riches as on this side of them." And we would 
like to have unbroken health; but we may need sick- 
ness rather. "Before I was afflicted I went astray." 1 
The apostle Paul did not like the thorn in the flesh. 
It tormented him so much, he prayed that it might 
be taken away; but he needed it in order to keep 
down hie spiritual pride. And when he found out 
bow much he needed it, and received the grace to 
balance and to bear it, then he gloried in it. "All 
these things are against me,"' their father Jacob said, 
> Ps. cxix. C7. 2 Gen. xlii. 3G. 



142 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

when as he supposed Joseph was not, and Simeon was 
not, and his brethren were desiring to take Benjamin 
away. And yet, as we all know, this Avas the rough 
but right way in which a wise and kind Providence 
was taking to provide better things for the patriarch 
and his family. 

And as for ourselves, dearly beloved, let us always 
remember that God has never promised to supply our 
wishes; but only our wants, and these only as they 
arise from day to day. Many good people are prone 
to borrow trouble on interest, if I may speak so. The 
poor widow looks upon her little children, and there 
is something like a tear standing in her eye, and her 
pale lips begin to quiver as she says, so sorrowfully, 
"How shall I provide for them now when their father 
is gone to the grave?" And the Christian who de- 
sponds is always fearing the troubles that are coming 
in the future, and in downright despair he cries out, 
" How shall I ever be able to meet them ? Oh that I 
had grace enough to bear me safely through them all ! 

Now, we might answer these groundless forebod- 
ings in the language of the common people, " Don't 
cross the bridge till you come to it;" but we prefer 
to answer them in the better language of the Bible, 
"Thy shoes shall be iron and brass; and as thy days, 
so shall thy strength be." l Not as thy years, nor as 
thy months, nor as thy weeks; but, "as thy days, so 
shall thy strength be." To-morrow you may come to 
a rougher road, but you shall have better shoes. To- 
morrow you may have a heavier burden to carry, but 
1 Deut. xxxiii. 25. 



OUR SURE SUPPLIES. I43 

you shall have greater strength. You may come to 
your Gethsemane to-morrow, but the Gethsemane 
angel shall be there beforehand, to lift you up in his 
kind arms and give you sweet comfort. You will 
need your daily bread to-morrow, and your daily 
grace, and, blessed be God, you shall have them both : 
"And to-morrow shall be as this day, and much more 
abundant." 1 

The measure of our supplies is another precious 
thought in the text: "According to His riches in 
glory my God shall supply all your need." The Lord 
is rich in every thing. The gold and silver are His, 
for He made them in the mines; and the cattle on a 
thousand hills are all the Lord's. The world itself, 
and all the worlds, with all their wealth, belong to 
God. - He is the Creator and Proprietor of all things 
that are in heaven above and in the earth beneath. 
We call men rich, when they have more than enough 
to satisfy their own wants; and we call them very 
rich, if they have such an abundance of the good 
things of this world that they can satisfy the wants 
of many ; and it is a goodly sight to see men of great 
wealth blessing the poor with their bounty. 

But th<' riches of all the rich men in the world are 
as DOthing, when compared with the riches of the 
Almighty. Besides, the little wealth that men may 
gel is never abiding. Some of our coins are called 
eagles, and are stamped \\\\\\ the image of an eagle, 
the wings of which arc not folded, as if to rest 
awhile, but outstretched, as if always ready to fly 

1 1. l\i. VI. 



I44 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

away. Now this is an excellent device, and, al- 
though not so intended, it is a good commentary on 
that faithful saying, "Riches certainly make them- 
selves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward 
heaven.'" 1 

We have known persons who were once rich, but 
they became poor. The wheel of fortune took an un- 
expected turn, and in a moment the earnings of a long 
life were lost. And we have read of a rich man in Eu- 
rope whose income was a hundred thousand pounds a 
year; but he lived so fast that he soon spent the princi- 
pal as well as the interest; and the gates of his golden 
mansion, which had refused admittance to a monarch, 
were thrust open by the sheriff and sold to the high- 
est bidder. His great fortune was quite exhausted. 
But God's glorious riches are "enduring," 2 and in- 
exhaustible. Giving doth not impoverish God, it 
seems rather to enrich Him. He has been giving 
since the beginning, but He has just as much to give 
as He had in the beginning. His sun shines just as 
bright for us as it did for our first parents in Paradise. 
His store-house is just as full as it ever was; and 
although the earth is daily burdened with benefits 
poured from the horn of His plenty there is always 
more to follow. The blessings of His Providence and 
His grace seem to grow, like the little barley loaves 
passing through the Saviour's wonder-working hands; 
and when the feast is over, and the last man is filled, 
there will be fragments enough left for twelve more 
worlds like the one in which our lot is cast. 
i Prov. xxiii. 5. 2 Heb. x. 34. 



OUR SURE SUPPLIES. 145 

Great mountains have been exhausted of their gold, 
and seas of their pearls ; but God's riches in grace and 
glory are more plenty, as well as more precious, than 
gold and pearls. Pardon of sin, and peace of mind, 
and purity of heart, and faith, and repentance, and 
hope, and love, and life, and health, and food, and 
raiment, and heaven. — But what am I doing ? I find 
myself striving to reckon up God's riches in glory; 
but I forbear. I can not take that inventory. I 
have seen many things, and heard many things, and 
thought many things; my eyes have been feasted, and 
my ears have been ravished, and my mind has soared 
away on the wings of the imagination, till I was 
weary with seeing and hearing and thinking; but 
" Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have en- 
tered into the heart of man, the things which God 
hath prepared for them that love Him." 1 And look- 
ing at the open hand of our heavenly Father we can 
not help Baying, with the Psalmist, "Oh how great is 
thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that 
fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that 
fcrusl in tin-'' before the sons of men." 2 

Tin- channel through which our supplies come to 
us is the last thought in tin- text, and the last shall 
be first, "By Christ -Icsus, my God shall supply all 
your need." We had mi right to any of our temporal 
blessings after tin- covenant of works was brokenj we 
had no right to any of our spiritual blessings; nay, 

more, we had no right to any thing, not even to life 

itself Bui Jesus became our security, promising to 

1 I Cur. ii. 9. 2 Pfl. xxxi. 19. 

10 



I46 BEAUTY FOR ASHES 

take our place, to pay our debt, and to suffer our 
punishment; and in the fulness of time He came into 
the world in "the form of a servant," 1 to execute the 
covenant which He made with the Father, in our 
behalf before the world began ; and by obeying the 
law and suffering its penalty for us, in the form of a 
sinner, He redeemed us from its curse, and purchased 
for us more blessings than were lost: "But not as the 
offence, so also is the free gift: for if through the 
offence of one many be dead, much more the grace 
of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man 
Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many." 2 "For ye 
know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though 
He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that 
ye through His poverty might be rich." 3 There is 
not a solitary blessing that we enjoy, or that we ever 
will enjoy, that Jesus did not purchase for us with His 
own most precious blood. Our common blessings, as 
we call them often, are all covenant blessings. The 
week's wages, which we received last night, were the 
wages of Gethsemane and Calvary. Yes, that very 
money, for which we sweat only drops of toil, Jesus 
sweat "great drops of blood falling down to the 
ground." * 

In thinking so much, as we do, about the greater 
benefits of our Redeemer's death, we are prone to 
forget the lesser. He died for our sins, most true; 
but He died for our sorrows as well: "Surely He hath 
borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows." 5 The beg- 

1 Phil. ii. 7. 2 Eom. v. 15. s n Cor. viii. 9. 

4 Luke xxii. 44. 6 Isa. liii. 4. 



OUR SURE SUPPLIES. 1 47 

gar's crust of bread was purchased on the cross, as 
Avell as his crown of glory; his cup of cold water 
only, as well as his harp of gold. And your morning 
meal, which you received, perhaps, without thanks- 
giving, was just as much provided for you by Christ, 
as the bread of life. The raiment that you now Avear 
was woven for you on the cross, as well as the robe 
of righteousness. Yes, Jesus hungered and thirsted 
that vein- bread and water might be sure. He had 
not where to lay His head that you might have your 
home with all its comforts. He was stripped of His 
coat that you might have one to put on. He was 
friendless that you might have friends. And last of 
all, He gave His life a ransom for your life. And not 
only so. but having purchased, at such a cost, these 
blessings of grace and glory for you, He brings them 
to you and begs your acceptance of them, saying, "I 
counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that 
tin hi mayest 1m- rich; and white raiment, that thou 
m.'iy.-st I..- clothed." 1 

How in inli, how very much, we ought to love our 
dear I.oid Jesus! Ought to love Jesus did I say? 
Lei mm- look at that winter-like word for a moment, 
that I may measure its meaning? At the first glance 
the lump of ice begins t<> molt into a river of pleasure. 
Did Mary the mother of Jesus feel that she ought 
to love Joseph her espoused husband? Was Rachel 
obliged to love Jacob? and was it Sarah's duty to 
love Abraham? oh no! these honorable "women loved 
their husbands because they could not help it, 

i Ecv. iii. 18. 



148 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

Even so I love my Saviour. Long ago I yielded to 
His divine wooing. He has betrothed me to Himself; 
I am His royal bride, and He is my royal Bridegroom : 
" My Beloved is mine and I am His." 1 He has gone 
away to prepare for me, the marriage mansion and 
the marriage supper. Meanwhile He comes to see 
me, and before the celestial beauty of His fascinating 
and triumphant charms, every thought of obligation 
vanishes away, and I count it my highest joy to cast 
myself into His kind arms, that I may repose there 
forever on the bosom of His infinite, eternal, and un- 
changeable affection. His love to me is the mother 
of my love to Him: "We love Him, because He first 
loved us." 2 Moreover His love to me should be the 
measure of my love to Him. He loved me so much 
that He died for me: "Who loved me, and gave Him- 
self for me ; " 3 and I ought to be willing to die for 
Him. 

I love Him for what He is, as well as for what He 
has done for me. Am I poor? Jesus is the riches 
of my poverty. Am I sick? Jesus is the health 
of my sickness. Am I rich ? Jesus is more than 
my great possessions. Every thing without Jesus is 
nothing, and nothing but Jesus is Jesus and every 
thing. He is better than the best of all my friends; 
"The chiefest among ten thousand;" 4 and lovelier 
than the loveliest; "Yea, He is altogether lovely." 
Superseding all when all remains, He is a substitute 
for all when all is gone: all in all, and all without 

1 Cant. ii. 16. * I John iv. 19. 

3 Gal. ii. 20. * Cant. v. 10. 



OUR SURE SUPPLIES. 1 49 

all. " As the apple-tree among the trees of the wood, 
so is my Beloved among the sons. I sat down under 
His shadow with great delight, and His fruit was 
sweet to my taste." 1 

Jesus is more and better and dearer than all the 
world to me; He is more and better and dearer to 
me than all the world to come; He is the heaven 
of my heart, and the heart of my heaven: "Whom 
have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon 
earth that I desire besides thee." 2 "My soul doth 
magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God 
my Saviour." 3 " I charge you, ye daughters of 
Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the 
field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love till 
He please." 4 

" light in darkness, joy in grief, 
O heaven begun on earth ! 
Jesus, my love, my treasure, who 
Can tell what Thou art worth ? " 

' Cant iL 3. 2 Ps. lxxiii. 25. 

3 Luke i. 46. * Cant. ii. 7. 



Lord, open thou my lips, and my mouth shall 
show forth thy praise. Evening, and morning, and 
at noon, will I pray and cry aloud. Remove far from 
me vanity and lies; feed me wilh food convenient for 
me; lesl I I"- full, and deny thee, and say, Who is 
the Lord? Or lesl 1 be poor, and steal, and take the 
nam.- of my God in vain. Give me a blessing; for 
thou hast given me a south land; give me also 



150 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

springs of water, the upper springs, and the nether 
springs. Thy words were found, and 1 did eat them; 
and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of 
mine heart: for I am called by thy name, Lord. 
How precious, also, are thy thoughts unto me, 
God ! how great is the sum of them ! If I should 
count them, they are more in number than the sand: 
when I awake, I am still with thee. I will go in the 
strength of the Lord God: I will make mention of 
thy righteousness, even of thine only. O God, thou 
hast taught me from my youth : and hitherto have I 
declared thy wondrous works. Noav, also, when I 
am old and gray headed, God, forsake me not; 
until I have showed thy strength unto this genera- 
tion, and thy power to every one that is to come. 
Thou, which hast showed me great and sore troubles, 
shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again 
from the depths of the earth. Thou shalt increase my 
greatness, and comfort me on every side. I will also 
praise thee Avith the psaltery, even thy truth, my 
God: unto thee will I sing with the harp, thou 
Holy One of Israel. My lips x shall greatly rejoice 
when I sing unto thee ; and my soul which thou 
hast redeemed. My tongue also shall talk of thy 
righteousness all the day long : for they are con- 
founded, for they are brought unto shame, that seek 
my hurt. My soul shall make her boast in the 
Lord ; the humble shall hear thereof and be glad. 
My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord: and 
let all flesh bless His holy name forever and ever. 



THE SONG OF SORROWS. 



CHAPTER VII. 

'■'■Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the 
vines ; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no 
meat ; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd 
in the stalls : yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my 
salvation." — Hab. iii. 17, 18. 

THE drought in summer is a very dreadful thing. 
For several weeks, perhaps for months, there 
has been no rain from heaven, nor any dew, to refresh 
the thirsty earth, and every green thing is blighted. 
And if dry weather continues all the year round, the 
twelve months seem like a funeral procession follow- 
ing the dead world to its burial. And should there 
be no "showers of blessing" 1 for several years in 
succession, no speech nor language could describe the 
consuming curse. The flowers fade away, the springs 
and wdls and water-brooks are all dried up; and here 
and there the ground itself is split asunder, as if to 
show that the very heart of the world is broken by 
the greatness of its grief, and "the whole creation 
groaneth." 1 

The sky is sometimes overcast, which seems a token 

for good, but the next moment the clouds are flying 

away, as if they had come only to mock and make 

sporl of the distress which is overwhelming the earth 

' Ezck. xxxiv. 26. » Rom. viii. 22. 



I54 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

and they that dwell therein. From the murky ap- 
pearance of the landscape, yon would judge that every 
hill and mountain must be a burning volcano; and by 
breathing the stifling atmosphere, you would almost 
think that the bottomless pit was opened to mingle 
its tormenting smoke with the suffocating sunbeams. 
And, while the blight continues, it never ceases to 
turn beauty into deformity, health into sickness, and 
life into death; every bright spot of ground is blasted 
into a blackened wilderness, and every garden en- 
closed seems like a section of Sahara. The neighbor- 
ing lake, once so beautiful that it seemed like the 
smile of the Great Spirit, has become a dead sea; and 
the noble river is nothing now but a number of stag- 
nant pools, which breathe out their pestilential odors 
to poison the air, while every living thing is either 
dead or dying: "The seed is rotten under their 
clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are 
broken down; for the corn is withered. How do the 
beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, be- 
cause they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep 
are made desolate." 1 

Such is the doleful picture presented to us m the 
text. A great calamity was coming on "the Holy 
Land." 2 Its gloomy sky looked strangely forgetful of 
the early and the latter rain, and seemed to be harden- 
ing into iron and brass; and beneath a scorching 
sun the earth was fast turning into powder and dust. 
The days and nights and weeks and months were 
only dismal, and that continually. Dark discomfort 
i Joel i. 17, 18. 2 Zech. ii. 12. 



THE SOXG OF SORROWS. 1 55 

brooded over every thing*; and to the prophet's eye 
Palestine presented a sadder sight than winter. The 
leaves of the trees were curling and crumbling away, 
and the trees themselves were dying slowly; and 
sweet and happy Canaan was looking lonely, des- 
olate, and sad. 

By all accounts, the land of promise was a land of 
plenty. With the exception of Eden, it was doubt- 
less the most fertile corner of the world: "A good 
land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and 
depths that spring out of valleys and hills ; a land of 
wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig-trees, and pome- 
granates; a land of oil olive, and honey." 1 When the 
spies were searching the country, they came to the 
brook Eschol, "and cut down from thence a branch 
with one cluster of grapes, and they bare it between 
two upon a staff." 2 How large and heavy that clus- 
ter must have been ! and what a good idea it gives 
ue of the wonderful fertility of the soil! And besides 
the fields, the flocks and herds of the Holy Land are 
often spoken (.fas bringing forth plentifully. 

All these things, pertaining to the prosperity of 
a people, were not only found in Canaan, but they 
abounded there. They abounded there by the bless- 
ing of ';<•(!, who sent His rain to soften the soil and 
crown it with glory. 

But by reason of the sins of the children of Israel 
the natural productions of their covenanted country 
are represented in the lexl as failing and spreading a 
soi-e famine throughout the laud. "Her Nazarites 

> Deut. viii. 7, 8. 2 Num. xiii. 23. 



156 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk, 
they Avere more ruddy in body than rubies, their pol- 
ishing was of sapphire; their visage is blacker than a 
coal; they are not known in the streets: their skin 
cleaveth to their bones: it is withered, it is become 
like a stick." 1 And sorer still, thousands of the peo- 
ple are perishing with hunger and thirst. In every 
city, and in almost every house, there is weeping and 
wailing, and whole families are cut off; even large 
villages are left without one living inhabitant. 

But the most surprising thing of all the rest is 
this, that the holy man of God, who saw and sketched 
this deplorable picture, himself rejoices in the Lord, 
giving glory to the God of his salvation. Looking 
around on the mournful scene, no tear starts from 
his eye; listening to the cry of anguish everywhere, 
no sigh rises from his heart; but contrariwise, a song 
of loudest praise bursts forth from his joyful lips, and 
these are the brave, beautiful, and blessed words to 
which his tongue is tuned: "Although the fig-tree 
shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; 
the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall 
yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the 
fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I 
will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my 
salvation." 2 

This inspired song of sorrows was not the peculiar, 

personal property of the prophet, through whose lips 

it came, like a charming cadence from beyond the 

sky. It is given to all the suffering people of God 

1 Lam. iv. 7, 8. * Hab. iii. 17, 18. 



THE SONG OF SORROWS. 1 57 

in every age and in every land; and no language, 
with which we are acquainted, can so well express 
the triumphant joy which the Christian may experi- 
ence in the time of trouble. The fruitful field of the 
heart is often turned into a barren waste, by the dis- 
tressing dispensations of Providence, and there is a 
sore famine in the soul. The brightest human hopes 
are sometimes blasted when they are in full blossom ; 
and the longest cherished and fondest expectations 
are ol'ten altogether vanity. 

Taking up this theme, which accompanies and flows 
from the text, we will strive to engage your attention 
with some of those afflictions, which are sent upon us 
here, causing us more sorrow than that which comes 
wh.n the fig-tree does not blossom, and there is no 
fruit in the vines; when the labor of the olive fails, 
and the fields yield no meat; when the flock is cut 
off from the fold, and there is no herd in the stalls. 

And, thai there may be some method in our medi- 
tation, when entering on this subject Ave will remark, 
thai our brightest hopes are sometimes blasted. This 
self-evident that we need not tarry long think- 
ing to make it more manifest. It so coincides with 
tli<' experience of mankind, that we have only to 
appeal to your own hearts, and immediately there 
i.s an anicn, and an argument for this faithful and 
1 ;in-. that human expectations are "Vanity 
of vanities." 1 

When the aged men, of the generation that is pass- 
ing away, were young, they formed their plans and 
• Eccl. i. l. 



I 5 8 BE A UTY FOR ASHES. 

purposes, and marked out the path in which they 
would walk. In their own minds they determined 
what would be their future course; they decided 
where and how they would live, and what would be 
their business. And now, after so long a time, if 
they would give expression to their experience, it 
would begin with some such words as these, "We 
were disappointed in our expectations;" and after 
this manner it would end, "All our hopes were 
blasted." 

These did not realize the fairy-like visions of the 
future on which they used to pour forth all the po- 
etry of their souls. Their plans failed, their purposes 
were broken off, and their path was changed. In 
the bright morning of life, their eyes were mercifully 
closed concerning their destiny. They were like blind 
men, and the Lord brought them "by a way that 
they knew not." 1 They came to hills of difficulty 
which they could not climb over; and their own 
chosen ways were so hedged about, that they were 
often compelled to change their course, as the sea- 
faring men are sometimes obliged to do, to save 
themselves from shipwreck: "A man's heart deviseth 
his way: but the Lord directeth his steps." 2 

Many years ago, in the little town of Bethlehem, 
there dwelt a happy family consisting of a husband 
and his wife and their two children. Then, as now, 
it was a religious duty to labor for the necessaries 
and the comforts of life; and with the purest motives 
this pious family "went to sojourn in the country of 
i Isa. slii. 16. 2 Prov. xvi. 9. 



THE SONG OF SORROWS. 1 59 

Moab." 1 And there Avere doubtless many good rea- 
sons for their going away, beside the famine that had 
blasted and blackened their beautiful land. They ex- 
pected to get relief from present embarrassment, and 
better their circumstances. But they went from bad 
to worse, and all of them, but one, went to their 
graves. And after ten years of tribulation and an- 
guish, the widowed, childless mother returned, say- 
ing, " I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me 
home again empty." 2 

These people, it is true, did not belong to the no- 
bility, nor were they blessed with wealth; they were 
only a poor family. But the richest, oldest, and most 
honorable families of earth are not exempt from the 
vicissitudes of fortune. Even royal families are not 
always prosperous. David had riches and honor in 
abundance. He resided in a splendid mansion, and 
swayed tin- heaviest sceptre that any monarch ever 
lifted, for he was king in Jerusalem. Besides, he 
was greatly beloved of God, "a man after His own 
heart." ' But there came a dark day during his reign, 
when be was driven from his dominion, and for some 
time he was supported by the charity of his heathen 
neighbors, who felt pity for him, and "Brought beds, 
and basins, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and bar- 
lev, and Hour, and parched corn, and beans, and len- 
til-, and parched |>ulse, and honey, and butter, and 
sheep, and cheese of kine, for David, and for the 
people that were with him to eat: tor they said, The 

people is hungry, and weary, and thirsty in the wilder- 

' Ruth i. 1. * Ruth i. 21. 3 t Sam. xiii. 14. 



^O BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

ness." ' And in our own day we have seen the rich- 
est ruler in the world disguised in the livery of a 
servant flying for his life, and dying in a strange land, 
an alien and almost a beggar. All history, ancient 
and modern, sacred and profane, is a sorry commen- 
tary on the vanity of human hopes. 

Those of us who have lived long enough to see the 
variety and to feel the vicissitudes of life, need no 
evidence to prove our personal knowledge. But there 
are many, in the morning of life, who are about to 
spread the sail, and put out to sea in a cruise after 
happiness. And you may depend upon it, you will 
be disappointed every way. The water will be rough 
sometimes, the sky will be dark, and the heaviest 
anchors will not be able to hold your ship, when she 
shall be driven before the wind, and "exceedingly 
tossed with a tempest." 2 And sorer still, you will 
never find the object of your search. "The depth 
saith, It is not in me: and the sea saith, It is not with 
me." 3 Some of your calculations may even now be 
reaching far into the future; but you better have a 
care, and preface every plan, "By the will of God." 
"Boast not thyself of to-morrow; for thou knowest 
not what a day may bring forth." 4 "Go to now, ye 
that say, To-day or to-morrow we will go into such a 
city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and 
get gain : whereas ye know not what shall be on the 
morrow." 6 You may be intending to give an enter- 
tainment to your friends. The time may be appointed 
' II Sam. xvii. 28, 29. * Acts xxvii. 18. * job xxviii. 14. 
4 Prov. xxvii. 1. 5 James iv. 13. 



THE SONG OF SORROWS. l6l 

for the banquet, the invitations may be issued, and 
music may be engaged. But the day for the banquet 
may prove the day for the burial; and instead of 
receiving your guests so joyfully as you expected, 
they may gather sadly around your coffin and carry 
you to the tomb; and perhaps some of them may 
learn that, " It is better to go to the house of mourn- 
ing, than to go to the house of feasting." ' 

It should however be observed, that, as a general 
rule, human hopes are not all blasted at the same 
time. It is very seldom that we see a person who 
is a stranger to all joy and always. One whose head 
is waters; whose eyes are a fountain of tears; and 
whose heart is girdled with grief. In the natural 
world it is not often that there comes a general 
famine. We have never seen a total failure of all 
the crops, all over the country, during the same 
season. One kind of grain may prove not worth 
the reaping, but of another sort there may be a 
plentiful harvest. The products of the early spring 
may be destroyed by an untimely frost, but the sum- 
mer's planting may escape the blight. If the fig-tree 
shall not blossom, there may be fruit in the vines; and 
if the Labor of the olive fail, the fields might yield 
their meat; and though the flock be cut off from the 
fold, still a small herd may he left in the stalls. The 
t<.t;il failure of all these good gifts to the husband- 
man, is a calamity which comes only once in many 
years. 

Ami. as a general thing, grief comes gradually, 

' Eccl. vii. 2. 
11 



!6 2 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

little by little. The burden is wisely suited to the 
pilgrim's bending back; and if it should seem too 
much for him, the Saviour, his companion in tribu- 
ulation, puts His own shoulder to its support. Jesus 
tempers every trial: "He stayeth His rough wind in 
the day of the east wind;" 1 and will never permit 
His blood-bought people to be "swallowed up with 
overmuch sorrow." 2 He has made too many prom- 
ises to them, loves them too well, has laid out too 
much for them, and is too much interested in their 
welfare, to allow them to be crushed to death, by the 
burdens which they can not carry: "God is faithful, 
who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye 
are able; but will with the temptation also make a 
way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." 3 

Sickness comes upon the saint; his health is so 
badly broken that he can never expect to be the 
same active man again ; and immediately the blight 
begins to appear, and the fig-tree does not blossom. 
Then adversity follows, nor is it any wonder. He 
can not meet his engagements, and not being able 
to superintend his own affairs, he becomes embar- 
rassed in business, and there is no fruit in the vines. 
At last death comes suddenly into his family, and the 
desire of his eyes is taken away with a stroke. The 
twain whom God joined together are put asunder, and 
the labor of the olive fails. 

Now so much of a famine of the good things of 
this life some of you may have experienced already.^ 
And if you have not, you must have seen many of 
i Isa. sxvii. 8. 2 II Cor. ii. 7. 3 I Cor. x. 13. 



THE SONG OF SORROWS 1 63 

your friends and neighbors suffering by reason of it. 
And if so much sorrow be sufficient for the Christian's 
proving and purifying, he is afflicted no more. But 
if it be not sufficient, he must continue to hear the 
rod which speaks as well as smites. And in all our 
afflictions it is beautiful and good to notice the gentle- 
ness and tenderness and mother-like manner in which 
they are administered. We wander from the way of 
holiness and sin against heaven. We forget that we 
are betrothed unto the Lord forever, and forsake our 
first love; and immediately He begins to plead with 
us. He speaks kindly, in " a still small voice," 1 and 
utters only comfortable words: "Turn, backsliding 
children, saith the Lord; for I am married unto you." 2 
But if there be no repentance on our part, nor works 
meet for repentance, He keeps on speaking, and smit- 
ing too, if it must be so, until He is both heard and 
heeded. He says, "I will curse your blessings;" 3 and 
in the departure of those things that we love, and in 
the coming of those things that we dread, we hear 
His voice and feel His hand. Our own chosen way 
is hedged up with thorns, so that we can not get 
out to follow after other lovers. Our corn is taken 
away in the time thereof, and our wine in the season 
thereof, till we ai-e constrained to say, "I will go and 
return to my first husband; for then it was better 
with me than now."* 

By the Jews the leprosy was called " the finger of 
God," and emphatically, the stroke. They said that 

' I Kings xix. 12. * Jcr. iii. 14. 

3 Mai. ii. 2. < Hos. ii. 7. 



1 64 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

it attacked first a man's house, and if he did not turn, 
his clothing; and then if he continued in sin, him- 
self. And whether the fact was so or not, this is a 
fine illustration of the manner in which God's judg- 
ments, if men refuse to listen to them, reach nearer 
and nearer to the centre of their life. Our heavenly- 
Father is so full of tender compassion that He can 
not smite us as we deserve. His loving heart holds 
back His lifted hand. Blessed be His glorious name 
forever, " He hath not dealt with us after our sins ; 
nor rewarded us according to our iniquities;" 1 "Yea, 
many a time turned He His anger away, and did not 
stir up all His wrath." 2 

But if the milder measures of His loving-kindness 
prove ineffectual, if the partial famine of our comforts 
bring us not back to the feet of Jesus, in penitence 
and prayer, there will follow blight after blight, and 
blow after blow, till there comes a total failure of 
every blessing. Of the Lord's own covenant people 
it was said, "When He slew them, then they sought 
Him: and they returned and inquired early after God. 
And they remembered that God was their Rock and 
the high God their Redeemer." 8 

And so it comes to pass, that all our hopes are 
sometimes blasted all at once. Every blessing is 
cursed, every friend is taken away, and cross after 
cross is laid on the weary shoulder. Such cases may 
be of rare occurrence; nevertheless we can not close 
our eyes to the fact, that .some people have been 
marked by sorrow as peculiarly her own. Perhaps, 
i Ps. ciii. 10. 2 Ps. lxxviii. 38. 3 p s . lxxviii. 34, 35. 



THE SONG OF SORROWS. l6$ 

even now, within the circle of your acquaintances, 
you may be able to remember some on whose brow 
sadness ever sits enthroned; some in whose sky not 
one star is ever seen to shine, and in whose blighted 
heart no blessed hope of better days is dawning-. 
They were born to trouble, and to nothing else. Be- 
neath the cloud they go always, and are never once 
seen beyond the valley of the shadow of death. When 
the morning comes, they say, "Would God it were 
even!" 1 and at even they say, "Would God it were 
morning! " All time is a time of trouble, and it hangs 
heavily upon them. It can hardly be said that they 
have any days; because the rising of the sun is like 
; ing down of the same, and it is night all 
the time where they sojourn. And they have their 
"songs in the night"; 8 but these are all sorrowful, 
and are set to some mournful tune and sound, like 
the sighing of the stormy wind, or the moaning of 
the melancholy sea. Passing through the valley of 

they can dig no wells for their refreshment, 
Yon never see them smiling and happy; but, on the 
contrary, they are as solemn and as gloomy as the 
grave. And why are they so sorrowful? Why, just 

■ there is to them such a total failure of all 
their temporal blessings. In their painful experience 

the fig-tr loes noi blossom, and there is no fruit in 

the vines; the labor of the olive fails, and the fields 
yield no meat; the flock is cut off from the fold, and 
then- is qo herd in the stalls. Every hope is blasted; 
every comforl is clean gone; every shadowing gourd 

1 Duut. xxviii. 07. * Jub xxxv. 10. 



1 66 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

is withered; and every well-spring of pleasure is dried 
up. They have no heart for any thing any more, ex- 
cept to brood over its own bitterness. In their per- 
sonal history they find ample proof of the proverb, 
that one sorrow seldom comes alone, and when it 
does it is sometimes the forerunner of a troop. "That 
which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust 
eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the 
cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm 
hath left hath the caterpillar eaten." ■ 

Without controversy, such was the case of the up- 
right man of the land of Uz. The patriarch Job 
was blessed so abundantly that the horn of heaven's 
plenty seemed to be emptied in his lap. Ten olive 
plants were growing up round about his table, — 
" Seven sons and three daughters," — and in his con- 
stantly increasing wealth he had enough and to 
spare; besides, he was "the greatest of all the men 
of the east." 2 But yet, in one short day, adversity, 
affliction, and bereavement came. It was not in the 
same year, nor in the same month, nor in the same 
week, but it was in the same day; and doubtless it 
was in the same hour that his sore troubles lighted 
round him like birds of prey: "Wheresoever the body 
is, thither will the eagles be gathered together." 3 
And herein consists the overwhelming severity of his 
sorrows, they came so close together, like wave suc- 
ceeding wave. Before he had time to recover from 
the first calamity, the second came; and then the 
third; and still another, heavier and harder to be 
i Joel i. 4. 2 Job i. 3. 3 Luke xvii. 37. 



THE SONG OF SORROWS. \6j 

borne than all the rest. Let us listen to the woe- 
ful story. " There was a day when his sons and his 
daughters were eating and drinking wine in their 
eldest brother's house: and there came a messenger 
unto Job, and said, The oxen were ploughing, and 
the asses feeding beside them : and the Sabeans fell 
upon them, and took them away; yea, they have 
slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and 
I only am escaped alone to tell thee. While he was 
yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The 
fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up 
the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them ; and 
I only am escaped alone to tell thee. While he was 
yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The 
Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the 
camels, and have carried them away, yea, and slain 
the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only 
am escaped alone to tell thee. While he was yet 
speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy sons 
and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in 
their eldest brother's house: and, behold, there came 
B great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four 
corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, 
and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to 
tell thee." 1 

When such sorrows are sent upon us, we should 
rejoice because they come at the command of God. 
Seasons of famine are just as much from Him as 
fruitful seasons; the "black horses " of adversity are 
Beni «>nt by Him, as well as the "white horses" 2 of 
' Job i. 13-19. " Zech. vi. 2, 3. 



l6 g BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

prosperity We must look above and beyond the 
second and apparent causes to God,-the First, the 
Last, and only efficient Cause,-the Cause of causes, 
"Who hath measured the waters in the hollow ot His 
hand" 1 The waters that are above the firmament 
He holds in one hand, and the waters that are under 
the firmament He holds in the other hand. And with 
His hands, as with a pair of balances, "He weigheth 
the waters," 2 and poureth them from one to the other 
by measure, and according to His good pleasure: "He 
causeth the vapors to ascend from the ends ot the 
earth; He maketh lightnings for the ram ; He brmg- 
eth the wind out of His treasuries." 3 

And as the Lord reigneth in the kingdom ot na- 
ture-making the day and the night, the summer 
and the winter; so He reigneth in the kingdom of 
providence,-ordaining, ordering, and overruling a 
things Therefore, in all time of our trial, and in all 
time of our tribulation, the lofty language of the lat- 
ter part of the text ought to dwell upon our tongues. 
Great grief may be indulged by the heathen in their 
blindness, and by all those who do not know that the 
earth has a heavenly Ruler; but it is positively smiiil 
for the Christian to abandon his heart to excessive 
sorrow, and go mourning all his days. 

Public affairs may take a sombre turn, and party 
spirit may rise to such a pitch of passion as to 
threaten the overthrow of the government under 
which we live; and the hearts of our wisest states- 
men may be failing them for fear of the fearful things 
i Isa. id. 12. 2 Job xxviii. 25. 3 Ps. cxxxv. 7. 



THE SONG OF SORROWS. 1 69 

that seem to be coming in the near future. Moreover, 
the times may be hard; every branch of business may 
be perfectly prostrated, and tens of thousands of peo- 
ple, who were once in easy circumstances, may be sit- 
ting in sackcloth and ashes, saying, "What shall we 
eat ? or, What shall we drink ? or, Wherewithal shall 
we be clothed ? " 1 

But the Lord reigneth, and the helm of our national 
affairs is held in His hand. "The Lord hath prepared 
His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom ruleth 
over all." 2 " He changeth the times and the seasons: 
He removeth kings and setteth up kings." 3 He may 
not be heard in the councils and cabinets of presidents 
and princes, nevertheless He is always present pre- 
siding over all their deliberations, and ruling or over- 
ruling, all their acts, for the promotion of His own 
plans. He never interferes with the freedom of their 
will, they do just as they please, and at the same time 
they do all His pleasure. His name may be carefully 
excluded from their constitutions, as it is from our 
own; and in the administration Of affairs His author- 
ity may In- quite overlooked; but though the govern- 
ment be infidel or atheistic, it is on His shoulder. 
The most special efforts may be made to resist His 
influence, and to thwart His purposes, but they shall 
utterly tail: "The kings of the earth set themselves, 
anil the rulers take counsel together, against the 
Lord, and againsl His Anointed, saying, Let us break 
their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from 
us. lie that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the 
1 Mai vi. :U. 2 Ps. ciii. 19. a Dan. ii. 21. 



I/O BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

Lord shall have them in derision." 1 The kings and 
queens of the earth, whether they are good or bad, 
are all His ministers. Their hearts are in His hand, 
and "He turneth them whithersoever He will." 2 The 
crown is not on Caesar's head, but on Christ's, "Who 
is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, 
and Lord of lords." 3 

And the hard times come from heaven. After a 
season of prosperity we should expect a season of 
adversity, because " God also hath set the one over 
against the other." 4 When David said to God, "My 
times are in thy hand," 5 he did not mean his good 
times merely, but his bad times as well, if, indeed, 
he did not mean these last altogether. The years of 
poverty are just as much from God as the years of 
plenty. The seven lean kine and the seven fa/t kine 
came up out of the same river. And when Ave are 
crushed in spirit and our substance is consumed away, 
it is the Lord's doing, and the Lord's people ought to 
be as ready to recognize this truth as the heathen 
magicians in Egypt, who were constrained to say, 
concerning one of the plagues, "This is the finger 
of God." 6 

The Lord reigneth ! What a soul-filling and re- 
freshing thought this is in troublous times, like the 
present, when the whole world is agitated, alarmed, 
and apprehensive of evil. Almost every year there is 
a congress of kings, and the oldest empires of the 
earth are depending for their existence on the skill 

i Ps. ii. 2-4. 2 Prov. xxi. 1. 3 I Tim. vi. 15. 

* Eccl. vii. 14. « Ps. xxxi. 15. « Exod. viii. 19. 



THE SONG. OF SORROWS. \"J\ 

of diplomacy or the strength of arms. But when 
Christ says, "The time is come," the greatest domin- 
ion must pass away and perish. It is the pierced 
hand that sways the universal sceptre. It is the 
thorn-torn, bleeding brow, that wears the " many 
crowns." l It is the One who was hanged upon a 
tree, who has become the Prince of the kings of the 
earth, and " He must reign, till He hath put all ene- 
mies under His feet." 2 

When we hear about wars and rumors of wars; 
when we see crowned heads taking counsel together 
so often ; when we know that great armies are mus- 
tering and marching to "Armageddon," 3 — some may 
find the cause of all these troubles in malice, or mad 
ambition, or " the balance of power " ; but we can not 
stop short of the First and Last and only true Cause. 
It is our joy to know that all these things are noth- 
ing else than the Man with the bruised heel going 
(through the earth casting down one, and setting up 
another, and so preparing the way for all the nations 
to come and crown Him Lord of all. 

The Lord reigneth! How sweetly comforting is 
this to the Christian in times of personal trial. Per- 
tmpfl some of you are passing through the waters 
now, sinking down in the dark depths of sorrow and 
of Buffering. You arc greatly embarrassed in your 
business, and all your friends have failed to help you. 
Your creditors are getting uneasy; some of them have 
seized your property, and there is the sheriff's notice 
of sale nailed upon the door of your dwelling. And, 

i Eev. xix. 12. « I Cor. xv. 25. 3 llev. xvi. 16. 



172 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

sorer still, it is whispered about that you are not as 
honest as you ought to be, and your health begins 
to break. Here and there may be found a man who 
ascribes such sad changes as these to chance. Chance 
what? chance who? chance where? "It is the Lord: 
let Him do what seemeth Him good." 1 "What? shall 
we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not 
receive evil ? " 2 

Eising a little higher in God's own chosen way of 
holiness, we should rejoice in our sorrows because 
they are sent upon us in loving-kindness. When His 
covenant people were entering into their covenanted 
country, the Lord said to them, " It shall come to 
pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my com- 
mandments which I command you this day, to love 
the Lord your God, and to serve Him with all your 
heart and with all your soul, that I will give you the 
rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and 
the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, 
and thy wine, and thine oil. And I will send grass in 
thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be 
full. Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not 
deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve . other Gods, 
and worship them; and then the Lord's wrath be 
kindled against you, and He shut up the heaven, 
that there be no rain, and that the land yield not 
her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the 
good land which the Lord giveth you." 3 In these 
words there is a precious promise, and a terrible 
threatening; but each had the same blessed end in 
i I Sam. iii. 18. s Job ii. 10. 3 Deut. xi. 13-17. 



THE SONG OF SORROWS. 1 73 

view, and both of them proceeded from the lips of 
the same Lord, whose wrath is only another name 
for His love: " For whom the Lord loveth He correct- 
eth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth." 1 

In time of trouble, it would be good to have a friend 
at court, who could speak to the king in our behalf; 
but it would be better to have a father on the throne 
to whom we could go ourselves. Then we might 
reasonably expect much care, and many royal favors. 
And this is our case exactly. The Father of the rain 
and the dew is our Father, and having the heart of a 
father, He loves us dearly, and has a tenderer watch 
and care over us than the kindest earthly parent. 
The divinest mother's love is only the dim shadow 
of Hi-s better and more abiding affection; and the 
fondest father in the world must be counted a stran- 
ger in comparison of Him. Pie is a Father who has 
the measurement of our strength: "He knoweth our 
frame; He remembereth that we are dust"; 2 and He 
is so considerate that He will never permit us to 
be burdened above what we are able to bear. And 
when we look at our afflictions in the light of His 
loving-kindness, every difficulty is solved, every cloud 
is brightened, and every sorrow is sweetened. A 
Father's love — our lather's love — is the mainspring 
of every mournful event, and the cause of every ca- 
lamity: "For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, 
and Bcourgeth every son whom he receiveth." 3 

And this, alter all, is the only way in which we 
eau account for the perplexing dispensations of Prov- 

1 Prov. iii. 12. 2 p 8 . c iii. 14. 3 Heb. xii. 6. 



174 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

idence. Season can not explain the reason of the 
rod; passing through this Baca of breaking and of 
bleeding hearts, it is at best but a blind leader of the 
blind, and there is danger that both may fall into the 
ditch. The greatest modern philosopher, whose mind 
is stored with all the wisdom of the world, can not 
master the mystery of affliction. " Sir, thou hast 
nothing to draw with, and the well is deep." 1 

And no other perfection of "The everlasting Fa- 
ther," 2 except His love, can solve the problem of our 
sorrows. At present, we may not be able to under- 
stand it perfectly: "For now we see through a glass 
darkly;" 3 but in a little while it will be made quite 
plain. A Father's love sends every storm on the 
water, gathers every cloud in the sky, and plants 
every thorn in our path; it is the pruning-hook that 
sunders every tie, the hammer that nails every coffin, 
and the spade that digs every grave. Yes, it is our 
Father's love that gathers the lilies from our garden, 
leaving the home so desolate, and the heart so full of 
anguish. " Even so, Father ; for so it seemed good 
in thy sight." 4 

And if any of you are asking why our heavenly 
Father resorts to such severity sometimes, I will tell 
you. It is because He hates sin with such a perfect 
hatred, and loves His children with such a perfect 
love. He finds the elements of evil bound up in their 
hearts, and He will not suffer these to remain there 
to work their ruin. And the very fact that He cor- 

1 John iv. 11. 2 Isa. ix. 6. 

3 I Cor. xiii. 12. * Mat. xi. 26. 



THE SONG OF SORROWS. 1 75 

rects them is the best evidence that He has the kind- 
est feelings for them. It is to make your children 
more obedient, and better every way, that you are 
often obliged to use the rod ; you love them too well, 
and are too anxious for their future welfare, to per- 
mit them to grow up in the way that they would go 
if they were left unrestrained and uncorrected. 

And it is when they do wrong, and because they 
do wrong, that our heavenly Father chasteneth His 
Bona and daughters; and it is not against them, but 
against their sins, that every blow is aimed. If the 
j Hi, ions metals came pure from the mines, there 
would be no need of the furnace; there would be 
no need of the fire. It is their dross and tin that 
renders their refining necessary. And it is of a set 
purpose to burn out of His dear children the dross of 
carnality that God the Father, and their Father, puts 
th. -in in the fining pot and kindles the fire. Love is 
tin' fuel that feeds and fans the flame; the flame 
itself is love — every spark is love. The painful pro- 
cesa 1- begun and continued and ended in love: "As 
many as I love, I rebuke ami chasten." 1 

Lei as then keep in mind that our sorrows are 
Bent npon as in loving-kindness, and never forget 
thai they an- intended for good. God's loving-kind- 
liesfl has this end in view, ami works only this result. 
The long-continued famine that came in the time of 
Jacob, ami threatened tin; destruction of his family, 
great blessing to himself, to all his posterity, 
and to th.- whole world as well. It led to the dis- 

' Rev. iii. 19. 



176 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

coveiyofhis long-lost and lamented Joseph; it con- 
strained him to go down into Egypt to sojourn there, 
that the purposes of God might be fulfilled, in the 
preservation of the church; it saved from extinction 
the chosen race from which, " as concerning the flesh 
Christ came, who is overall, God blessed forever;" 1 
and so the tender plant that blossomed out into the 
great salvation was not blasted in the bud ; and down 
to the present day Ave are enjoying the precious fruits 
of those seven years in which there was neither ear- 
ing nor harvest. 

And now, as then, and evermore, this is a faithful 
saying, all our sorrows are salutary and sanctifying. 
There is no peradventure about it, " we know that all 
things work together for good to them that love God." 2 
We know this from our own experience as well as 
from the infallible Word. "All things work together 
for good." Not some things, but "all tilings": seasons 
of famine as well as fruitful seasons; painful things as 
well as pleasant; the cursing no less than the bless- 
ing. We may not be able always to see the good 
in the evil, because "no chastening for the present 
seemeth to be joyous, but grievous; nevertheless, 
afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of right- 
eousness unto them which are exercised thereby." 3 
In the tear-watered fields of darkness and sorrow, 
" Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for 
the upright in heart." 4 And "they that sow in tears 
shall reap in joy." 5 

1 Rom. ix. 5. 2 Rom. viii. 28. 3 Heb. xii. 11. 

4 Ps. xcvii. 11. 5 Ps. cxxvi. 5. 



THE SONG OF SORROWS. 1 77 

It often comes to pass that the loss of property- 
makes us richer toward God. We love the world, 
and as riches increase we set our hearts upon them. 
Perceiving this, our heavenly Father gives wings to 
our wealth, and it flies away. So Pie weans us from 
the world, and makes us rich in the enduring sub- 
stance. Temporal poverty is the chosen path, by 
which He leads many of His people to great spir- 
itual prosperity ; not because He is pleased to see any 
of His saints suffering, for want of the comforts and 
necessaries of life, but because the love of the world 
strong in them that it can be rooted out in no 
other way. And so they learn that "Sorrow is better 
than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance 
the heart is made better." 1 

And personal sickness is often a greater blessing 
than perfect health. It may not seem so, when we 
are suddenly snatched aAvay from our business and 
onr pleasures, and prostrated on a bed of languishing, 
and " wearisome nights" are appointed to us; but yet 
there is no place where the graces grow so fast and 
shine so bright as in the sick-room. The burning 
fever, the tossing to and fro, and the frequent weep- 
ing, — like the sunshine and the showers of summer, 

make the harvesl of the heart to ripen quickly into 
"the beauties of holiness;" 2 and where we expect to 
find impatience, fretfulness, and repining, we see res- 
ignation, cheerfulness, and heavenly-mindedness in 
their perfection. 

It is an interesting tad in natural history, that the 

1 Eccl. vii. :j. 2 Ps. ex. 3. 

12 



178 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

cutting, irritating grain of sand, which sometimes 
passes within the shell of the oyster, makes the living 
inmate sick, and incites him to secrete from his own 
resources the means of coating the intrusive sub- 
stance, to render its presence less painful, and a pearl 
is the result. By this strange process, the hurtful, 
worthless grain of sand becomes pleasant and pre- 
cious. So our sicknesses, when rightly improved, be- 
come pearls of great price. And looking back at our 
broken health, and remembering what it has done for 
us, we have reason to say with the Psalmist, "It is 
good for me that I have been afflicted." 1 

Besides, by the blessing of God, our sorrows may 
result in good to others as well as to ourselves. We 
could not live for ourselves only, if we would; and 
that we may be of more service to the church and 
the world, we have another baptism than that of 
water, and another ordination than that of the laying 
on of hands: we are baptized with " the wormwood 
and the gall;" 2 and are ordained by the laying on of 
crosses. Without this higher and holier consecration 
in the fiery furnace, we might be sons of thunder to 
hard-hearted sinners, but we could not be sons of 
consolation to broken-hearted saints; and striving in 
vain out of our untried hearts to speak peace to those 
who are in trouble, they might be tempted to turn 
upon our cold platitudes, saying, with something of 
its original sharpness, "I have heard many such 
things: miserable comforters are ye all." 3 

As an apt illustration of this thought in all its 
1 Ps. cxix. 71. 2 Lara. iii. 19. 3 Job xvi. 2. 



. THE SONG OF SORROWS. IJQ 

ts, we would point you to the chiefest of the 
apostles. Saul of Tarsus was a young man of great 
learning and influence; and had you lived in his 
day. and seen him "breathing out threatenings and 
slaughter against the disciples of the Lord," * you 
would have feared for the fate of the infant church ; 
had you seen him arming himself with authority 
from the chief priests, and setting out for Damascus, 
like a red-handed robber, to take and torture the 
saints residing there, your heart would have "trem- 
bled for the ark of God." 3 But yet, behold how 
wonderfully these things worked together for good. 
Jesus met the monster by the way, and blinded him 
that lie might see, and having changed his heart, He 
sent him on another mission; and so the prince of 
persecutors became the prince of preachers, and only 
lived to glory in the cross: "God forbid that I should 
glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." 3 

In like manner, all things, whether great or small, 
whether good or bad, are ordained of God and over- 
rule «1 lor good to them that love Him. Of the many 
trials that I If sends upon us here, not one is unprofit- 
able, not one is unseasonable, not one is unbecoming: 
"He bath made everything beautiful in his time."* 
There is a burning lamp in every smoking furnace; a 
cordial in every bitter cup; and our deepest 
and most desperate sorrows may rise up into a very 
jubilee of joy, and bring the greatest revenue of glory 
unto God. 

' Acts ix. 1. 2 1 Sam. iv. 13. 

a GaL vi. 14. < Eccl. iii. 11. 



l8o BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

On the Rhine, in Germany, there is a dingy castle 
with two high towers rising np above the rest of the 
building. The old baron, who owns and occupies the 
fortress as his home, stretched several strong wires 
from one tower over to the other, constructing what 
might be called an iEolian harp. In pleasant sum- 
mer weather, the ordinary winds produce no effect 
upon this instrument, and it is perfectly silent. But 
in the winter season, when the terrible tornado comes 
rushing along, breaking the trees and shaking the 
mountains with its trampling thunder, and with the 
fingers of its fury smites those silent strings, then, 
they send forth the grandest strains of music that the 
ear ever heard. 

In every one of our hearts there is an iEolian 
harp which was made, for His good pleasure, by 
the " Great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ," ' who 
dwells therein; and day and night, without ceasing, 
thanksgiving and the voice of melody should rise to 
Him who strung the wondrous lyre. But yet, for 
weeks and months, and sometimes for years, we are 
dumb. The soft and spicy breezes that cheer the 
homes of health and wealth, and the sweet and gen- 
tle zephyrs that gladden the hours of peace and pros- 
perity, make no impression on our hearts and minds, 
and fail to wake any music within us " to the praise 
of the glory of His grace." 2 But when adversity 
comes at the command of God, or disappointment, 
or bereavement, or all of them together, like a rush- 
ing, mighty tempest, and all our hopes are blasted 
' Tit. ii. 13. 2 Epli. i. 6. 



THE SONG OF SORROWS. l8l 

all at once, — then, "the stormy wind fulfilling His 
word," 1 sweeps sighing- through the soul, and straight- 
way there rises up to heaven, in a hurricane of praise, 
this song of sorrows, which is sweeter than any that 
the angels sing: "Although the fig-tree shall not blos- 
som, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of 
the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; 
the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall 
be no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the Lord, 
I will joy in the God of my salvation." 

As "all the rivers run into the sea," 2 so all our 
remarks run into this benediction, "Blessed are they 
that mourn." 3 Dearly beloved, fellow-sinners and fel- 
low-sufferers, no matter what your outward circum- 
stances may be, it is your duty and your privilege 
to be happy. Your brightest hopes may be blasted, 
your fondest expectations cut off, and there may be 
to you a total failure of every earthly comfort; but 
in the time of famine, you shall have better meat to 
cat than those whose "eyes stand out with fatness;" 4 
and you shall learn that the harp of the human heart 
yields its sweetest music when it is broken. "Is not 
the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the 
vintage "l" Abiezer?"' 

A converted Brahmin at his baptism lost his houses, 
his lands, his wells, his wife and his children. To a 
sympathizing friend, who asked him how he bore 
his sorrows, and if he was supported under them, 
be answered, saying, "I am often asked that, but I 

' Th. cxlviii. 8. * Eccl. i. 7. 3 Mat. v. 4. 

4 Ps. lxxiii. 7. 6 Judges viii. 2. 



1 82 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

am never asked how I bear my joys; for I have joys 
within me which are unspeakable and full of glory. 
The Lord Jesus sought me out and found me, a poor 
stray sheep in the jungles ; He brought me to His fold, 
and He will never leave me." 

This same lofty plane in Christian experience may 
be attained by you. The ladder Jacob saw reached 
above the winds and clouds, and with the hands and 
feet of faith and hope, you may climb beyond them 
now, and be happy henceforth and forever. Your 
property may pass from your possession to pay your 
debts, as far as it will go, and you may be poor; 
your father and mother may forsake you; and your 
brothers and sisters may disown you — but there is a 
brother "born for adversity"; 1 "there is a friend that 
sticketh closer than a brother." 2 His name is Jesus; 
and in Him and with Him, you may have the best 
of the wealth of heaven before you get there: "As 
sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making 
many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all 
things." 3 

Your first-born — yes, and your last-born — may be 
dead and buried. With rivers of waters running 
down your eyes you watched beside his dying bed; 
with a trembling hand you parted the hair on his 
noble forehead, and wiped the death-dews from his 
beautiful face, and in your arms of love he fell on sleep. 
He was the dearest idol of your heart, and with grief 
too great for tears, you saw him shrouded, you saw 
him coffined, you saw him sepulchred. Yes, he is 
1 Prov. xvii. 17. 2 Prov. xviii. 24. an Cor. vi. 10. 



THE SONG OF SORROWS. 1 83 

gone. You know that he is gone; you see his va- 
cant chamber and his empty chair; yet not unfre- 
quently you find yourself speaking softly, and step- 
ping lightly, as if afraid to awake him out of sleep. 
And your sorrow may seem peculiar, like unto which 
there is no sorrow; but you should not sorrow so, 
"even as others which have no hope." 1 Nay, rather, 
you should count it all joy, and glory in your great 
tribulation. Jesus wanted another jewel for His 
" crown of rejoicing," 2 and He took your son. Jesus 
wanted another hand to handle another heavenly 
harp, and He took your only son. Jesus wanted a 
new voice to aid the new song, and He took your 
one only son. And just because Jesus took him you 
ought to rejoice and be exceeding glad. For verily 
I say unto you, there are fewer blessings that call 
for louder songs of praise than a son safe in heaven. 
"While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: 
for I said, Who can tell whether God will be gracious 
to me, that the child may live ? But now he is dead, 
wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? 
I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me." 3 

" I I<ur, Lord, and have mercy upon me; Lord, be 
thou my helper. Thou hast turned for me my mourn- 
ing into dancing; thou hast put off my sackcloth, and 
girded me with gladness, to the end that my glory 
may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. Lord 
my God, I will give thanks unto thee forever."* 

' I Thess. iv. 13. a - I Thess. ii. 19. 

3 U Sam. xii. 22, 23. * Ps. xxx. 10-12. 



184 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

Jesus, Master: with seasons of famine and fruitful 
seasons, with judgments and mercies, -with tears and 
smiles, with sighs of grief, and songs of gladness, thou 
art weaving our web of life; and always and every- 
where, the darkness and the drops of the night are 
lustred with thy love. We bless thy dearest hands 
for all their guiding, and thy dearest heart for all 
its planning. But most of all, we bless thee, for the 
blasts and blows and burnings of thy brotherly kind- 
ness, by which we have been, in some measure, sep- 
arated and set free from sin, and made partakers of 
thine own holiness. Let it please thee to continue to 
work in us and for us, according to the good pleasure 
of thy sweet will; and help us, by the strength and 
beauty of thy grace, to rise above submission and 
resignation, into the heavenly places of perfect peace 
and perfect love; where we can glory in tribulation 
and rejoice evermore. And when thou hast done 
serving thyself with us, in this land of sundown 
and the shadow of death, take us up to that bright 
world, where the sun shall no more go down, and 
there shall be no more death. And not unto us, but 
unto Him who is able to keep us from falling, and to 
present us faultless before the presence of His glory 
with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, 
be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now 
and ever. 



THE BEAUTIFUL CLOUDS. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

li And now men see not the bright light which is in the clouds: but 
the wind pas set h and cleans eth them. Fair weather comet h out of the 
north." — Job xxxvii. 21, 22. 

THERE is a remarkable analogy between natural 
and spiritual things, which the most casual ob- 
server must have noticed. We are the children of a 
changing world, and all that the heavens and the 
earth express to the eye and ear corresponds to some- 
thing in the mind. The sublime psalmody of external 
things; the deep-toned thunder storm; the moaning 
of the melancholy sea; the sighing of the winds in 
the pine-tree tops; the murmuring of water brooks; 
and the sweet music of birds, — are all in harmony 
with the harp of the human heart. And the face 
of the sky is frequently the most faithful representa- 
tion of the feelings of the soul. The day and night, 
summer and winter, seed-time and harvest, all have 
their counterpart in Christian experience. 

When her beloved was far away beyond the moun- 
tains of Bether, the bride was lonely and sad, and 
'■si. k of love"; 1 her house was left desolate, and her 
garden had lost all its beauty: it Avas winter with- 
out, and it was winter within. But when he came 
again, "leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon 
1 Cant. ii. 5. 



1 88 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

the hills," 1 lo, the winter was past, the rain was over 
and gone, the flowers appeared on the earth, and the 
time of the singing of birds was come. So when onr 
heavenly Bridegroom withdraws Himself from us, it 
is winter within, though it may be summer without; 
— it is an Arctic winter, and its long, dark night is 
more distressing than its piercing cold. But when 
Jesus returns, both are speedily dispelled. The rising 
" Sun of righteousness " 2 drives away the darkness, 
and thaws the frozen garden of the heart, while the 
soft, south wind wakes to fan its opening flowers, till 
the spices thereof flow forth, with all the sweetness 
of a joyous spring. 

You will observe, at once, the connection between 
these preliminary remarks and the text: "Now men 
see not the bright light which is in the clouds: but 
the wind passeth and cleanseth them." As in the 
natural sky we sometimes notice dark clouds, beauti- 
fully tinted with the bright light that shines in and 
around them, so the clouds which come in the sky of 
the soul are lined with the light of heavenly love, and 
fringed with rays from the excellent glory. In other 
words, our afflictions are always accompanied with 
certain alleviating circumstances, by which they are 
not only mitigated, but rendered positively attractive. 

In the revolution of the earth around the sun, there 
are two opposing forces which prevail against each 
other — if I may speak so — to keep it in its appointed 
path: the one acting alone would draw the earth 
into the sun, and burn it up before the time; the 
' Cant. ii. 8. 2 Mai. iv. 2. 



THE BEAUTIFUL CLOUDS. 1 89 

other acting alone would drive it away, we know not 
whither, and it would become a wandering star. So 
both forces are essentially necessary in order to keep 
the earth in its own orbit; and they are so nicely 
balanced in the scales of Him "who hangeth the 
earth upon nothing," 1 that it never deviates a hair's 
breadth from its appointed path in the heavens, bring- 
in-- every year the pleasant succession of the seasons. 
And that one side of the earth might not be always 
exposed to the sun, and the other side always de- 
prived of his beams, — both of which would be equally 
bad, — the all-wise Creator has given another motion 
to the earth, by which it turns completely round on 
its axis every twenty-four hours; so dividing the light 
imin the darkness, making the day and the night, 
which are not only useful in their alternations, but 
indispensable to the well-being of the world and they 
that dwell therein. 

By a similar process of changes and counter-changes 
in the moral world, our heavenly Father preserves the 
even tenor of our lives. And, without controversy, 
compensations are the rule, of His gracious provi- 
dence. Over against prosperity He has set adver- 
sity, to keep us in His own right way; and after 
every night of weeping there is a morning of joy: 
along-side of "greal tribulation" He places "strong 
consolation"; our crosses are balanced by as many 
comforts, and every judgment has its corresponding 
mercy. When God smites with one hand, He up- 
holds with the other; when one door shuts, He opens 

1 Job xxvi. 7. 



190 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

another ; and when one friend fails, He raises up 
another. The same day that Faithful was burned 
to ashes at the stake, in Vanity Fair, Hopeful joined 
himself to Christian; and Hopeful was better than 
Faithful. 

In the wilderness the Israelites were supplied with 
"the corn of heaven," and "did eat angels' food." 1 
After the slaughter of a thousand Philistines, when 
Samson was like to die for thirst, he was revived by 
drinking of a well of water springing from a dry 
place. 2 When Jonathan was faint and weary, he 
was refreshed and enlightened by tasting of the 
honeycomb which he found in the woods. 3 When 
there was given unto Paul the thorn in the flesh, 
and the messenger of Satan came to buffet him, the 
grace of Christ was equal to the great emergency. 

So opportunely have all the saints found bread and 
water and honey and grace to help in time of need. 
The wilderness privileges are set over against the 
wilderness privations, making the desert blossom as 
the rose, and more to be desired than the wealthy 
place: "Behold, I will allure her, and bring her into 
the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her. And 
I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the 
valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall 
sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in 
the days when she came up out of the land of 
Egypt." 1 

In places where we least expected, and at times 

1 Ps. lxxviii. 25. 2 Judges xv. 19. 

3 I Sam. xiv. 27. * Hos. ii. 14, 15. 



THE BEAUTIFUL CLOUDS. 191 

when we looked not for them, how often have wells 
of heavenly consolation burst forth beside the path 
of our pilgrimage! When all "the upper springs and 
the nether springs " ■ were dry as summer dust, and 
we were going in vain to the broken cisterns of 
human sympathy, how often has our wayfaring God 
pointed us to " a spring shut up, a fountain sealed." 2 

Such remarkable coincidences may seem, to some, 
like the effect of chance; but they are what the Bible 
student would call predestination, and were foreor- 
dained for our special comfort. By their timely com- 
ing and blessed influence, they not only soften our 
Borrows, but make them splendid and sublime; and in 
a little while we learn to love them; and not only so, 
but we glory in them. What appeared only evil is 
actually good; and the cloud in which there seemed 
1<> be no comeliness at all, now shines with "the per- 
fection of beauty." 

There is a Wright light in every black cloud which 
our heavenly Fa t In r is pleased to weave in the ever- 
phanging canopy of His beloved and believing chil- 
dren. There was a blessing in the curse pronounced 
on our firsl parents and their posterity. That which 
was only a pleasant occupation, in the state of inno- 
<<ii'' . has become a burden scarcely to be borne. 
Instead of keeping and dressing the garden of Eden, 
which spontaneously yielded all the necessaries and 
luxuries of life, we are senl out into a world blasted 
with barrenness, and doomed to eat our bread in 
Borrow. 

1 Judges i. 15. * Cant. iv. 12. 



192 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

But in those drops of sweat that burst upon our 
brow there is more of good than evil, and more of 
joy than sorrow. Rest and recreation owe all their 
delieiousness to exercise and employment. There is 
health and happiness and holiness in hard work. 
Manual labor is the best school for the development 
of the body, and the discipline of the mind; it is 
a sanctuary also for the sanctification of the soul. 
Every blow of the axe and the hammer and the iron 
tools contributes something- to the perfection of our 
nature ; and true wisdom will bless the Lord for the 
stern ministry of the thorns and thistles, — those task 
masters Avhich He hath set over us in the world. In 
the sweat of thy face, " Behold therefore the goodness 
and severity of God.'' 1 

The order of the king of Egypt, exterminating all 
the male children of the Hebrews, Avas a very dreadful 
thing; and the day that it was issued was a dark day 
in Goshen. At first it seemed to be a cloud without 
any brightness at all ; no silver lining lighted up its 
earthward side, nor golden fringe hung down from 
the hem of its garment. But in a little while there 
came a sunburst through it, and, in due season, the 
light of God's countenance changed all its gloom into 
glory. In that bloody edict the blessed exodus was 
planted. It set in motion a train of special provi- 
dences by which "Moses my servant" was preserved 
alive, contrary to the king's commandment; and in 
Pharaoh's palace the "proper child" 2 was nurtured, 
who, when he became a man, was mainly instru- 
' Eom. si. 22. * Heb. xi 23. 



THE BEAUTIFUL CLOUDS. 1 93 

mental in the deliverance of Israel: and under a 
bright cloud they went up out of their house of 
bondage. 

The early death of Stephen was a great calamity, 
and seemed to be only evil in its consequences. He 
was a young man of much promise; the field of 
usefulness was widening before him, and the infant 
church could scarcely spare him. But his martyrdom 
was the mother of a wonderful blessing to the world. 
It was a ray of beautiful light, beaming from his 
angel-like face, that carried conviction to the dark- 
ened mind of Paul, who "was consenting unto his 
death," l and guarding the garments of his murderers. 
After that great sight, the proud young Pharisee found 
no peace till he went and washed his guilty hands in 
the blood of Jesus, and so the prince of persecutors 
became the prince of preachers. 

The crucifixion of Christ was, without doubt, the 
greatest crime that was ever committed; the darkest 
deed that this world ever witnessed. The murder of 
Jesus was worse than homicide, for He was more 
than man; it was worse than fratricide, for He was 
better than brother; it was worse than parricide, for 
He was more than father. A new word had to be 
coined to express the act, and it is properly called 
deicide, because the man Christ Jesus was "The 
mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of 
peace." 1 Yes, I speak considerately, and according to 
the Scriptures, when I say that a Divine Person suf- 
fered ou the cross: "In whom we have redemption 
1 Acts viii. 1. 2 Isa. ix. G. 



194 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. • 

through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins; who 
is the image of the invisible God." 1 Is it any wonder 
then, that the sun went down over Calvary, when it 
was yet day, and that there was darkness throughout 
all the land from the sixth until the ninth hour? 
Nay, the wonder rather is, that the sun ever rose 
again after "the Lord of glory" 2 died: "For by Him 
were all things created." 3 But yet, in that greatest 
of all crimes there was the sweetest of all comforts; 
and out of that blackest darkness that ever gathered 
over the earth, there dawned the brightest light of 
heaven; there was life in that death, even the life of 
the world ; and the love of God never burst forth so 
gloriously, as when the bitter tree of the cross budded 
and blossomed into the great salvation : " Where sin 
abounded, grace did much more abound." 4 

The silver linings are not always manifest in the 
clouds of life ; and it is not strange that some people 
can not see them, "because they are spiritually dis- 
cerned." 5 During that dark and doleful night, when 
the stormy sea was before the flying Hebrews, and 
their enemies were behind them, breathing out cruelty 
and slaughter against them, and there seemed to be 
no escape from sudden destruction, " the pillar of the 
cloud went from before their face, and stood behind 
them: and it came between the camp of the Egyp- 
tians and the camp of Israel: and it was a cloud 
and darkness to them, but it gave light by night 
to these." 6 So the same dark divine dispensation 

' Col. i. 14, 15. 2 I Cor. ii. 8. 3 Col. i. 16. 

* Rom. v. 20. 6 I Cor. ii. 14. o Exod. xiv. 19, 20. 



THE BEAUTIFUL CLOUDS. 1 95 

which is all brightness to the eye of the believer, is 
blackness of darkness to the unbeliever; though the 
difference is not so much in the cloud as in the 
spectator. 

But even the best of Christians, who are on the 
bright side of the cloud, are not always blest with 
such clear seeing as to discern the good in the evil : 
M Now men see not the bright light which is in the 
clouds." The alleviating circumstance accompanies 
their affliction, but they do not perceive it. It was 
a day of desperate sorrow, the light of which was 
darkness itself, when Hagar was sent away from 
Abraham's home. The thing seemed so cruel to "the 
friend of God,"' that he never would have thought 
of it, but for Sarah; nor could she have persuaded 
him to put the bondwoman away, had he not received 
a message direct from heaven concerning the matter. 
"And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and 
took bread, ami a bottle of water, and gave it unto 
Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and 
s.-nt her away: and she departed, and wandered in 
tin- wilderness of Beer-sheba." 2 

I ait the wilderness without was a perfect paradise 
in comparison of the wilderness within. And in a 
little while, when the bread was all eaten, and "the 
water was spent in the bottle," she cast the lad under 
one of the shrnhs, and went away about a bow-shot, 
that she might not seethe last struggle. Just then 
ami there, in that wilderness, and in the moment of 
eztremest anguish, when she was sitting down and 
1 James ii. 23. s Gen. xxi. 14. 



I96 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

weeping under the shadow of death, — the darkness 
of which was doubled, — -just then and there, " God 
opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water." 1 
That well was there before, but she could not see 
it till her eyes were opened. 

When the children of Israel came to Marah, they 
were greatly disappointed, and murmured exceed- 
ingly. They had been already "three days in the 
wilderness and found no water." And now, after so 
long a time, when a spring was discovered its waters 
were bitter, and they could not drink them. But in 
that great emergency — as in many sore trials — Moses 
went to the mercy-seat: "And he cried unto the 
Lord ; and the Lord showed him a tree, which when 
he had cast into the waters, the waters were made 
sweet." 2 That healing tree was there before; it grew 
in that vicinity, and perhaps so near by, that its 
branches shaded the bitter spring ; but its properties 
were not known, and were only revealed to Moses in 
answer to prayer: "the Lord showed him a tree." 

When the prophet's servant rose early one morn- 
ing, he made the sorrowful discovery, that the city of 
Dothan — where they sojourned — was invested with 
"horses and chariots, and a great host," 3 which the 
king of Syria had sent there by night to arrest Elisha. 
And returning quickly, the leal-hearted servant said, 
with manifest apprehension, "Alas, my master! how 
shall we do? And he answered, Fear not: for they 
that be with us are more than they that be with 
them. And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord I pray 
1 Gen. xxi. 19. * Exod. xv. 25. 3 II Kings vi. 14. 



THE BEAUTIFUL CLOUDS. igj 

thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord 
opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, 
behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots 
of fire round about Elisha." 1 The horses and chariots 
of heaven were there before, they were always there, 
but the servant could not see them till his eyes were 
opened. 

As Cleophas and his companion " went into the 
country," 2 shortly after the crucifixion, a seeming 
stranger joined their company, and journeyed with 
them, as they walked and were sad. And entering 
into conversation with them concerning their sorrow, 
He took it all away and gave them good cheer; they 
remembered it afterwards: "Did not our heart burn 
within us while He talked with us by the way?" 
Their pleasant travelling companion was none other 
than Jesus Himself; "But their eyes were holden that 
they should not know Him." 3 When they reached 
Emmaus, " He made as though He would have gone 
further;" but they constrained Him to abide with 
them. He had entertained them so much along the 
road that they could not bear to part with Him; 
besides, it was "toward evening," and the day was 
far spent. "And He went in to tarry with them. 
Ami it came to pass, as He sat at meat with them, 
He took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave 
to llj'in. And their eyes were opened and they knew 
Him.'< 

Though there are times when we can not discern 

' II Kings vi. 15-17. 2 Mark xvi. 12. 

3 Luke xxiv. 16. * Luke xxiv. 29-31. 



198 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

the brightness which is in the clouds, that gather in 
the firmament of the soul, they are not of long con- 
tinuance. In due season, the brightest sunshine of 
the Saviour's best love will break through the thick- 
est blackness, and we shall be satisfied with seeing: 
" Now men see not the bright light which is in the 
clouds: but the wind passeth and cleanseth them. 
Fair weather cometh out of the north." It is the 
keen, cold wind, blowing from the regions of ever- 
lasting snow, by which the clouds are cleared, and the 
sky is made to shine like "gold." 1 

So one severe affliction is often alleviated by an- 
other; one blow is softened down by another blow. 
The loss of property is mitigated by the loss of health. 
In taking thought for ourselves, we almost forget 
the filthy lucre which slipped away, like quicksilver 
through our fingers. The death of one beloved mem- 
ber of the family becomes less crushing in its pres- 
sure when another is prostrated by the same dreadful 
disease; and the "mother in Israel," 2 who, like Ea- 
chel, refuses to be comforted for the loss of her chil- 
dren, is sometimes weaned from her grief by the 
alarming illness of her husband. Such is the way 
in which a kind Providence, through anxiety, with- 
draws the heart from anguish, till the same hand that 
bruised the reed shall gently bind it up again. 

But a change in the weather within is more indis- 
pensable to clear seeing than a change in the weather 
without. As we have already intimated, the bright- 
ness is always in the cloud, and if we do not see it 
1 Job xxxviL 22 (marginal reading). 2 Judges v. 7. 



THE BEAUTIFUL CLOUDS. 1 99 

the fault is in ourselves. "We may be on the wrong 
side of the cloud, like the Egyptians ; or we may be on 
the right side of it, and not looking at it in the right 
way: "For now we see through a glass darkly." 1 
But as the illuminating Spirit pours light into our 
benighted minds, this dark medium becomes clearer; 
and not unfrequently those things which we thought 
would obstruct our vision are sent of very purpose to 
aid it. "We are tempted to complain, at times, that 
our eyes are blinded with unbidden tears. But tears 
are never unbidden; for the kind and mighty Jesus, 
who keeps a bottle for them, always bids them flow. 
Neither are they blinding in their influence; but, con- 
trariwise, they are the holy water of heaven, with 
which He washes our eyes that we may see better. 
He often makes a telescope of them that we may see 
further; for tears are lenses of the greatest magnify- 
ing power when looking upward, and greatly aid our 
feeble faith in " seeing Him who is invisible." 2 How 
strange it is, that Christians should be afraid of afflic- 
tions, and that they should begin to despond as soon 
as the skies begin to darken round them, as if some 
great calamity was coming to crush them. 

"Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take: 
The clouds ye so much dread 
Are big with mercy, and shall break 
In blessings on your head." 

While the clouds are only black and breaking with 
storms of sorrow, it is hard to believe that there is 
1 I Cor. xiii. 12. * Heb. xi. 27. 



200 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

any brightness or beauty in them; but, like many 
other things, they are better than they seem. "We 
have learned by experience that the thorniest judg- 
ments blossom into the sweetest mercies. Thus saith 
the Lord to His anointed, " I will give thee the treas- 
ures of darkness." 1 Since the Master was "a man of 
sorrows," sorrow is sanctified and glorified beyond 
all telling. 

Yes, in spite of her black visage, languid eyes, and 
dark mantle, sorrow is a beautiful princess, and Avalks 
abroad the queen of hearts. — I had almost said the 
queen of heaven, because she comes from heaven to 
make us meet for heaven. There is a divine beauty 
in every feature of her face; and a divine blessing in 
every blow of her hand. She wounds to heal, casts 
us down to lift us higher up, and kills us to make us 
alive again ; and when she brings us to our Gethsem- 
ane, the strengthening angel will be sure to follow, 
and that right speedily. Blessed be God for the grasp 
of every grief in which the men of grace have found 
glory begun below. "Ascribe ye strength unto God; 
His excellency is over Israel, and His strength is in 
the clouds." 2 

" Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be 
joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yield- 
eth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them 
which are exercised thereby." 3 The word "seemeth" 
in this scripture is well chosen, because afflictions may 
be joyous when they seem not so; and their peaceable 
fruits might be gathered much sooner than they often 
> Isa. xlv. 3. « Ps. lxviii. 34. J Heb. xii. 11. 



THE BEAUTIFUL CLOUDS. 201 

are. In God's husbandry "the ploughman shall over- 
take the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that 
bo we til seed." x Grief grows so quickly into grace 
and glory, that the weeping sower and the rejoic- 
ing reaper may go forth together; and the same day 
shall be the seed-time and the harvest of the heart: 
" He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious 
seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bring- 
ing his sheaves with him." 2 

When rightly viewed, the thick clouds of the sky 
are very beautiful ; and the brightness which adorns 
them seems borrowed from the better country. A 
friend of ours, who was sojourning for a season at 
the Catskill Mountain House, wrote to us after this 
manner, concerning a day-spring view of the clouds 
from that lofty height: "It was a dark morning; and 
as I almost ran to reach the best point of observation 
soon enough, it was intimated by one of my compan- 
ions, that I would not see much, because it was too 
misty. Nevertheless I went on, feeling that some- 
thing glorious would be revealed; and it was glori- 
ous beyond description. An angel's pencil could not 
depict the splendor of the scene, nor an angel's tongue 
express its beauty. Passing from the grand piazza 
seemed like embarking on a sea of glory. Nothing 
could 1m- seen at first, but mist clouds, which filled 
the valleys below, and covered the mountains which 
were round about. Presently the messenger rays of 

the morning ci (struggling through them, making 

their darkness bright, and clothing them with the 

1 Amos ix. 13. s Ps. exxvi. G. 



202 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

robes of the rainbow. In a little while the sun him- 
self appeared, ' Which is as a bridegroom coming out 
of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run 
a race.' 1 As he rose higher and higher, he smiled 
upon the clouds till they smiled back again, and 
seemed all ablaze with borrowed glory; and over- 
come with feelings of admiration and amazement, I 
closed my tired eyes, thinking that I had seen it all. 
But, after a moment's pause, I looked again, and saw 
another sight far more beautiful. The clouds of mist 
were rising and rolling like the waves of the ocean, 
and the sun's rays glorified them all. They gathered 
themselves together into delectable mountains, and 
from their bright tops, tall spires of vapor, sparkling 
as with sapphires, stretched upward towards the sun. 
As one of them rose above the rest, flashing like a 
flaming sword, it seemed to draw the others after it, 
till at last all were exhaled. It was long before all 
this beauty vanished from my view ; and when it had 
passed away, the drops of dissolving mist fell patter- 
ing on the leaves like pearls, hung every bush with 
brilliants, and shone like diamonds on the grass. 
Had it been a morning without clouds, the sunrise 
would have been shorn of more than half its glory." 
But as a dim candle dies at noonday, so all this sur- 
passing splendor fades away before the far outrival- 
ling brightness which beautifies the saints' cloud, 
when God gilds it with grace and glory. 

We seldom observe the clouds flitting in the fir- 
mament of heaven, without feelings of reverence and 
i Ps. xix. 5. 



THE BEAUTIFUL CLOUDS. 203 

adoration for Him, who is so much associated with 
them. They are God's pavilion, — the tent in which 
He dwells : " Clouds and darkness are round about 
Him:"' 1 they are His carriage; the conveyance in 
which He travels, " Who maketh the clouds His 
chariot." 2 In the night of weeping, and every night, 
how safe we are ! The angel of the Lord and the 
Lord of angels encampeth round about us; and in 
the fourth watch, and in its darkest hour, He comes 
driving down the starless sky to our relief, and 
the light of His countenance, travelling faster than 
His chariot wheels, turns our rayless night to per- 
fect day. 

" In darkest shades if He appear 
My dawning is begun ; 
He is my soul's bright morning star, 
And He my rising sun." 

It is interesting and instructive to notice in this 
connection, that clouds and darkness are the natu- 
ral and aecessary attendants of this world, and the 
heavenly messengers of many blessings to mankind. 
In some way, unknown to us, they help to create 
those storms which purify the atmosphere. In the 
Bummer's heat they hang a friendly veil over the 
fiery face of the sun; and all the year round they 
carry water tor the thirsty earth: "The clouds drop 
down the dew:"' "They drop upon the pastures of 
tin' wilderness: and the little hills rejoice on every 
siil'-. The pastures are clothed with flocks; the val- 
' Ps. xcvii. 2. 2 Ps. civ. 3. 3 Prov. iii. 20. 



204 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

leys also are covered over with corn ; they shout for 
joy, they also sing." 1 

In our present state of being, the clouds and dark- 
ness of sorrow are also natural, and necessary, and ex- 
ceedingly beneficent. Without their refreshing show- 
ers, our plants of grace would droop and die; and we 
could not make such good progress in the divine life, 
if indeed we could make any. Were the path of our 
pilgrimage perfumed with perennial flowers, and 
nothing but sunbeams played around our moving 
tent, it would soon cease to move altogether, and 
we Avould forget that we are strangers and pilgrims 
here. This rainbow dispensation, with its clouds and 
sunshine, its tears and smiles, is the very best that 
could be ordained for us: "And it shall come to pass 
in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor 
dark: but it shall be one day which shall be known 
to the Lord, not day, nor night: but it shall come to 
pass that at evening time it shall be light." 2 

In one of the European galleries of fine arts there 
is a celebrated German picture called "The Cloud 
Land." As you enter the door of the room, and look 
at it hanging on the distant wall, you do not know 
what to make of it. It seems like one great cloud: 
nothing else but "blackness of darkness." As you 
go a little nearer, and look at it more earnestly, it 
seems like many clouds gathered together. When 
you go still nearer and get the right stand-point, it 
changes like a dissolving view, and what seemed at 
first to be a mass of gloom is now " a multitude of the 
i Ps. lxv. 12, 13. 2 Zech. xiv. 6, 7. 



THE BEAUTIFUL CLOUDS. 20$ 

heavenly host," All the clouds are angels, and there 
are hundreds of angel faces smiling on you ; and hun- 
dreds of angel wings hovering over you; and hun- 
dreds of angel arms outstretched to embrace you. 
Dearly beloved, be not forgetful to entertain afflic- 
tions: "For thereby some have entertained angels 
unawares." 1 

It is still more interesting and instructive to re- 
member, in closhig, that beyond the dark clouds 
which are of the earth earthy, there is a region of 
uninterrupted and eternal sunshine. On the other 
side of this valley of Baca, there is a better country 
than Beulah ; and after this night of weeping is over 
and ended, there will be a morning Avithout an even- 
ing: "a morning without clouds," 2 where perfect day, 
and perfect peace, and perfect love shall be enjoyed 
perpetually. 

The clouds which gather round our globe cling 
ploee to its surface, and seldom rise above the tops 
of our highest mountains. When he was ascend- 
ing the Andes, Humboldt says that he could see 
the forked lightning darting from the black clouds 
beneath him, and hear the pealing thunder far down 
tinder his feet, when all was tranquil, clear, and de- 
li- lit tul above and around him. So when we ascend 
1m beaven, we shall leave all the dark clouds behind 
ik. with all their storms, and dwell in the land of 
pure delight, where tin-; sun is always shining, and 
the birds an; always singing, and the flowers are 
always blooming. What ;t happy place heaven must 

1 Heb. xiii. 2. 2 II Sam. xxiii. 4. 



206 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

be ! The very thought of it makes me homesick. 
"The beautiful die never there." "And there shall 
be no night there: and they need no candle, neither 
light of the sun ; for the Lord God giveth them light : 
and they shall reign forever and ever." ' 

We can not quit our theme, — so beautiful and sweet 
of fragrance, — without reminding you, as well, that 
beyond this life of lights and shadows, joys and sor- 
rows, meetings and partings, there is a place of 
unmitigated and everlasting misery. And painful 
though it be to pass from a thought so pleasant as 
our last, to one so unpalatable, we may not overlook 
it, because there is in the text a foretoken of both the 
worlds beyond the grave. Through its bright light 
there comes to us a gleam of heaven's glory, and in 
its black clouds there is a glimpse of the gloom of 
hell : that place of blackness of darkness, where " the 
smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and 
ever." 2 It is a dreadful place that pit. There will 
be no joy down there; there will be no light down 
there; there will be no hope down there; there will 
be nothing down there, but weeping and wailing and 
gnashing of teeth. 

Jesus, my God and Saviour, "gather not my soul 
with sinners, nor my life with bloody men, and let 
not the pit shut her mouth upon me." 3 

1 Rev. xxii. 5. 2 Rev. xiv. 11. 3 Ps. xxvi. 9, and lxix. 15. 



THE THORN IN THE FLESH. 



CHAPTER IX. 

" And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance 
of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the mes- 
senger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. 
For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from 
me. And he said unto vie, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my 
strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore taill I 
rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest 
upon me." — II Cor. xii. 7-9. 

IN the glorious company of the apostles, the goodly 
fellowship of the prophets, and the noble army 
of martyrs, Paul has confessedly the highest place. 
The chief of sinners has become the chief of saints; 
and he who was "less than the least" 1 of all in the 
kingdom of grace, is rfbw the greatest of all in the 
kingdom of glory. Of all the holy men of old, — from 
righteous Abel, downward to the present day, — he 
was ilf most honored, because he is the only one 
who was ever "caught up into paradise," and brought 
back again; whether in the body or out of the body 
he could not tell. But as the seeds of our most 
painful sorrows are often planted in our purest joys, 
so in this visit to heaven there was a taste of hell; 
for as the apostle was coming away from the realms 
of bliss, he met a "messenger of Satan," who began 
to bullet him and continued to buffet him for more 
l Eph. iii. 8. 



2IO BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

than thirty years. And though there can be no com- 
munion between light and darkness, nor concord be- 
tween Christ and Belial, yet there is a proper scripture 
sense in which this messenger of Satan was also the 
messenger of God ; and all his evil buffetings were so 
balanced and borne and blest, that they resulted in 
nothing but good. As the thorns and thistles of the 
original curse blossom into the fairest and most fra- 
grant flowers that adorn the earth, so this "thorn in 
the flesh," this thistle of hell, opened out and up into 
the grace and glory of heaven. 

What the thorn was, we are not told, and of course 
we do not know for certain. To count up and con- 
sider the various opinions concerning it, might be 
interesting to many; but it would take us away 
too far from our present purpose. Besides, it would 
have too much the appearance of a useless pedantry. 
Whatever it was, it seems to have been something 
that detracted much from the apostle's personal ap- 
pearance, subjected him to great humiliation, and 
was calculated to hinder and hamper him in his 
" work of faith and labor of love." 1 It was doubt- 
less an abiding infirmity, which troubled and tor- 
mented him day and night without ceasing. 

And though it may be nothing more than a prob- 
able conjecture, we are inclined to accept the opinion 
that it was an affection of the eyes. If the apostle 
was in the body when he was "caught up to the 
third heaven," what he saw there might have im- 
paired his sense of sight. Nay, it must have done 
' I Thess. i. 3. 



THE THORN IN THE FLESH 211 

so; because no mortal eye could gaze at the glory 
excelling of God's own dwelling-place without being 
blinded. Intense light of any kind, as every one 
knows, is injurious to the eyes. Men have been 
blinded for a season by the brightness of a burning 
lamp; they have been permanently blinded by look- 
ing at the sun during an eclipse ; and a flash of light- 
ning has sometimes destroyed the sight. 

In Paul's own experience we have the best illustra- 
tion of the blinding influence of excessive brightness. 
When he was going to Damascus, to persecute the 
followers of Christ in that beautiful city, " suddenly 
there shined round about him a light from heaven." 1 
It was about noon, but the light from heaven was 
"above the brightness of the sun"; 2 and by it the 
apostle was smitten with blindness; for he says him- 
self, " I could not see for the glory of that light." 3 
He could not see for three days, and, doubtless, never 
would have seen again, if a miracle had not been 
wrought to restore his lost sense. 

And if the light from heaven had such an injurious 
effect upon Paul, what must have been the effect of 
the light of heaven, when we know that "the Lamb 
is the light thereof?" 4 If a brief glimpse of the 
Saviour's glory actually blinded him, surely it should 
no1 I"- counted a strange thing, if, when he saw "the 
Kin-- in His beauty," 5 the dazzling brightness of the 
beatific vision quenched the light of life in those 

1 Acts ix. 3. ^ Acts xxvi. 13. 

3 Acts xxii. 11. * Rev. xxi. 23. 

6 Isa. xxxiii. 17. 



BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 



bewildered eyes that enjoyed the ravishing sight till 
they could see no more. 

And if Paul was not in the body when caught up 
into Paradise, was such an effect impossible or im- 
probable? If, as is a well-known fact, some sudden, 
strong emotion, as of grief or joy, will cause the pulse 
to cease to beat, and the heart to stand still, and even 
to break, — may not the surprising revelations of 
heaven have made such an intense and abiding im- 
pression on the spiritual retina of " the inward man," 
that after his return to the earthly house of this tab- 
ernacle, the "outward man" might have been blinded 
by the brightness of that glory that lingered in the 
soul, like the light of God's countenance that lingered 
on the face of Moses when he came down from the 
mount? 

But, however this may be, whichever of the sup- 
positions is true,— whether Paul was in the body or 
out of the body,— the piercing pain of a perpetual 
malady was the price he paid for the privilege of 
going to Paradise ; for what he saw there left a last- 
ing impression on his mind and body both, like that 
which is felt when " those that look out of the win- 
dows be darkened." 1 Besides, from this time forth 
the great apostle was almost never alone ; and seems 
never to have taken the shortest journey unattended. 
Wherever he went, into whatsoever city or village or 
country he came, he was accompanied by some of his 
friends. His infirmity, whatever it was, made him 
dependent upon the kindness of others. It is also 



i EccL xii. 3. 



THE THORN IN THE FLESH. 2 1 3 

abundantly evident that he usually wrote his epistles 
by the aid of an amanuensis, and inerely signed his 
name with his salutations, and a brief benediction at 
the close. And when we remember that most of 
these epistles were written when the apostle was in 
prison, where writing would have been a positive 
pleasure, we can not help thinking that their author 
would have written the whole of them with his own 
hand, if such a thing had not been rendered exceed- 
ingly difficult, and perhaps quite impossible, by rea- 
son of his imperfect vision. 

In the last chapter of the epistle to the Galatians, 
there is an allusion to this very difficulty: "Ye see 
how large a letter I have written unto you with 
mine own hand." 1 According to our translation, the 
apostle is speaking here about the letter which he 
had just written, and he calls it a large one, and 
says it was written with his own hand. And it was 
a proof of his special regard for those to whom it was 
addressed that he Avas willing to undergo this un- 
usual labor on their account. 

Such is the manifest meaning of our English ver- 
sion; but the best modern commentators are of the 
opinion that the phrase rendered, "how large a let- 
ter," has no reference to the epistle at all, but only to 
"the size of the characters" 2 in which he had written 
the letter. His handwriting was probably poor, the 
lines were irregular, the letters were large and rude, 
as a man would be likely to make them who was la- 
boring under the embarrassment of a defective vision. 
» GaL vi. 11. * Conybearo's translation. 



214 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

Moreover, in another place in this same epistle, 
remembering the first love, and the former friendship 
of the Galatians, and deeply sensible of their affec- 
tion, and the strength of their attachment, the apostle 
says, " I bear you record, that, if it had been possi- 
ble, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and 
have given them to me." 1 These devoted friends saw 
Paul's infirmity, and sympathized with him so much, 
that, if it had been possible, they would have torn out 
their own eyes to supply the lack of his. Such is the 
real meaning of this remarkable expression. 

But it makes very little matter what the thorn was, 
we know beyond a peradventure why it was given. 
Here indeed the apostle has been more explicit than 
usual. Once in the beginning, and again at the end, 
of the same short sentence, the reason is plainly stated 
in these words, " Lest I should be exalted above meas- 
ure, through the abundance of the revelations, there 
was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger 
of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above 
measure." 

Paul was a proud man; of this there can be no 
question. Pride was born in him, and bound up in 
his heart ; and for many years it was nourished and 
cherished there as a precious treasure. He was pre- 
eminently ambitious, loved the praise of men, and 
thought more highly of himself than he ought to 
think. As he advanced in age and learning and in- 
fluence, his pride increased, till he became the haugh- 
tiest man in the world: "If any other man thinketh 
i Gal iv. 15. 



THE THORN IN THE FLESH 2 1 5 

that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I 
more: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of 
Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the He- 
brews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; concerning 
zeal, persecuting the church ; touching the righteous- 
ness which is in the law, blameless." 1 But, in spite 
of this ever-present infirmity, Paul was a good man, 
and greatly beloved of God ; and in order to prevent 
his natural propensity from flaunting out into exces- 
sive self-esteem, and leading him on to self-destruc- 
tion, the piercing thorn was planted in his flesh by a 
messenger of Satan. 

Pride is a common sin, and has a home or a hiding- 
place in every human heart. The high and the ]pw 
are alike subject to it; and the filthy rags of the 
beggar are its clothing more frequently than the 
royal purple of the king. Some men are proud of 
their riches. Nothing pleases them so much as to go 
round about their patrimonial acres ; and they glory in 
their great possessions, knowing all the time, that in 
a little while "six feet by two" is more than they will 
own, and all that they can occupy. Other men are 
proud of their pedigree. They belong to an ancient 
and honorable house, and can trace their blood back 
to some noble lord; and the family tree is the idol 
thai they worship. But among their illustrious an- 
cestors there are many of whom they can not boast 
very much, and not a few of whom they ought to be 
ashamed: " Look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, 
and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged." 2 

' Phil. iii. 4-G. ! Isa. li. 1. 



2l6 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

The altogether lovely Saviour was the flower of the 
human family, and "the perfection of beauty;" but 
no man can read the long list of names in "the house 
and lineage of David," 1 from which He sprang, with- 
out blushing two or three times. 

As people prosper in their outward estate- their pride 
is apt to prosper in the same proportion. When Ha- 
inan reached the highest position in the kingdom of 
Persia, his pride rose above and spread beyond him- 
self; and he went home and called his friends together, 
and "told them of the glory of his riches, and the mul- 
titude of his children, and all the things wherein the 
king had promoted him, and how he had advanced 
him above the princes and servants of the king." 3 
When Nebuchadnezzar was sitting down under his 
own shadow, the pent-up pride of his heart broke 
forth through his lips in these " great swelling words 
of vanity:" 3 "Is not this great Babylon, that I have 
built for the house of the kingdom by the might of 
my power, and for the honor of my majesty ! " 4 But, 
in a little while, the one was hanged on his own gal- 
lows, and the other "was driven from men, and did 
eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the 
dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' 
feathers, and his nails like birds' claws." 5 " Pride 
goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before 
a fell." 6 

But pride is not confined to the men of the world. 

i Luke ii. 4 2 Estli. v. 11. 

s II Pet. ii. 18. < Dan. iv. 30. 

« Dan. iv. 33. c Prov. xvi. 18. 



THE THORN IN THE FLESH. 2iy 

Long before the days of Diotrephes it joined the 
church, and here, as everywhere, it "loveth to have 
the pre-eminence." 1 Pride sits in Moses' seat, wears 
the mantle of Elijah, preaches in many a pulpit, and 
puts on the Lord Jesus Christ. It is very prompt and 
particular in the performance of all duties pertaining 
to the profession it has made, and often goes beyond 
the letter of the law having a desire to excel ; stand- 
ing by itself, like itself, it loves to pray in public 
when it can be seen and heard of men; and it has 
a form of prayer not only peculiarly appropriate, but 
well pleasing to its vanity : " God, I thank thee, that 
I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adul- 
terers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the 
week, I give tithes of all that I possess." 2 

And those who are in Christ are scarcely less ex- 
posed to the bewitching influence of this besetting 
sin than those who are only in the church. Yea, 
strange as it may seem, the most eminent saints are, 
in some respects, most in danger of it; and when 
they are dwelling nearest to God their danger is the 
greatest. In "the Song of Songs," we learn that it 
av.is when her Lord and Lover had come over the 
mountains of Bether, and the bride was enjoying the 
Bweetesl communion of the Bridegroom, that she re- 
ceived this timely command of caution from Him: 
"Take us the luxes, the little foxes, that spoil the 
vines."' Spiritual self is no better than righteous 
sell"; it is no bettor than sinful self. Nay, it is rat her 
worse than hoth, because where God has planted 
> HI John 9. » Luke xviii. 11, 12. 3 Cant. ii. 15. 



2l8 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

grace, we look for the fruits of grace, but too fre- 
quently we find only "wild grapes," 1 and sometimes 
"nothing but leaves." 2 

And just here was Paul's most powerful tempta- 
tion; and never was he so much in danger of going 
to hell as when he went to heaven. About his con- 
version there could be no doubt; his progress in holi- 
ness was very wonderful, and he enjoyed one privi- 
lege that was conferred on no other living man, for 
he was " caught up into Paradise and heard unspeak- 
able words." 3 And it was " through the abundance 
of the revelations" that he was in danger of being 
"exalted above measure." And the abiding fear that 
he might be flattered by his friends, and so puffed 
up, may have constrained him to keep these revela- 
tions a profound secret for fourteen years. 

And if we would avoid the strongest temptations 
to spiritual pride, we should have a care never to 
boast about our progress towards perfection and our 
communion with Christ. The most devout and heav- 
enly-minded Christians have no religion to spare, and 
none to speak of boastingly. It is not wise to be 
always bringing out to the light that life which is 
" hid with Christ in God " ; 4 nor is it needful so to 
do, because in its own divine way it will make itself 
manifest. The glory that sat enthroned on the face 
ol Moses was visible enough to every body but him- 
self. When Stephen was put on trial for his life, " all 
that sat in the council looking steadfastly on him saw 

> Isa. v. 2. 2 Mark xi. 13. 

s II Cor. xii. 4. < Col. iii. 3. 



THE THORN IN THE FLESH. 219 

his face as it had been the face of an angel." 1 And 
when the elders of Israel saw the boldness of Peter 
and John, " they took knowledge of them, that they 
had been with Jesus." 2 

It was not because Paul was already proud, "through 
the abundance of the revelations," but to prevent him 
from becoming proud that the thorn was given to 
him. After Jacob's great victory over Omnipotence, 
when he gained a new name and a blessing besides, 
to prevent his haughty spirit from running away 
with himself, as he departed from Peniel, " he halted 
upon his thigh." 3 In our Master's school there is a 
rod of prevention, as well as a rod of correction ; and 
both of them are good, but the first is better than the 
last. 

Afflictions are often very mysterious when they 
come; but each sorrow has its separate meaning and 
its special mission. The chief end of one may be to 
warn the sinner, or to restore the wandering saint; 
the chief end of another may be to teach the world's 
vanity and wean the affections from it; the chief end 
of another may be to develop the spiritual life, and 
prepare the immortal soul for its immortal destiny. 
And whenever we are called to suffer, we may be 
sure and certain that "the Lord hath a controversy" 4 
with us; and it ought to be our first duty to find out, 
if possible, the reason of the controversy; and if we 
Eire unable to solve the mystery for ourselves, we 
should take it to the mercy-seat, saying, with one of 

' Acts vi. 15. 2 Acts iv. 13. 

3 Gen. xxxii. 31. •» Mic. vi. 2. 



220 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

old time, " show me wherefore thou contendest with 
me?" 1 David was afflicted, because he had gone 
astray, and he knew it well, and confessed it openly: 
" Before I was afflicted I went astray." 2 But Paul was 
afflicted before he went astray. And if the man after 
God's own heart wandered far from God, who is safe? 
And if the chiefest of the apostles was prone to wan- 
der, who is not ? The heart is just as deceitful now as 
it was then, sin is just as sinful, Satan is just as subtle, 
and before they are aware, the best Christians may be 
beginning to backslide: "Strangers have devoured his 
strength, and he knoweth it not; yea, gray hairs are 
here and there upon him, yet he knoweth it not." 3 

Not long ago, perhaps, some great calamity came 
upon you, and you were crushed before it like a 
bruised reed; and out of the depths you began to 
say, " What evil have I done to deserve this chastise- 
ment ? " And as the result of the strictest self-exam- 
ination, there was no special wrong-doing on your 
part. No, you had not gone astray, but you were in 
danger of so doing: your feet were standing in a slip- 
pery place, on the very edge of hell, and beginning 
to slide, though you knew it not till some blessed 
sorrow came and delivered you from the second death : 
" Behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and 
make a Avail that she shall not find her paths." 4 

As soon as the thorn was given to the apostle, he 

began to pray for its removal: "For this thing I 

besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from 

me." In his great distress he knew where to go; 

' Job x. 2. 2 p s . cx i x . 67. 3 Hos. vii. 9. " Hos. ii. 6. 



THE THORN IN THE FLESH. 221 

his refuge was the mercy-seat. He took the thorn. 
to the throne of grace, and asked the good Physician 
to take it away. He had learned by experience that 
this was the best thing that he could do with the 
tormenting thing; and, doubtless, this was the only 
thing that he could do with any hope of help, be- 
cause his desperate malady must have been beyond 
the reach of medicine. But it was not beyond the 
skill and resources of the kind and mighty Jesus, 
who opened the ej^es of those who were born blind, 
cast out devils, and raised the dead. 

Paul was pre-eminently a man of prayer; he lived to 
pray, and prayed to live, and loved to pray. Prayer 
was more and better to him than his meat and drink; 
it was the most precious privilege that he enjoyed, 
and he knew something of its prevailing power; and, 
in this time of his visitation, he practiced a precept 
that he preached to others: : ' In every thing by prayer 
and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests 
be made known unto God." l His health and sick- 
ness, his hopes and fears, his joys and sorrows, were 
poured out into the sympathizing heart of his heav- 
enly Friend. He prayed "always with all prayer," 2 
and ••without ceasing"; 3 so that it is hardly proper to 
say that he ever went to the mercy-seat, because he 
was always there. 

Besides, he was very particular when lie prayed. 
Whatever the matter was that weighed upon his 
mind, he ••spread if before the Lord."' The prayer 

I 1'liil. iv. G. 2 Eph. vi. 18. 

3 I 1'heaa v. 17. * II Khigs xix. 14. 



222 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

now passing under review shows bow careful he was 
to cast the burden of his care upon Christ. As if he 
prayed for nothing else, he says: "For this thing I 
besought the Lord." He wisely made his special 
trouble the subject of special prayer. When the anx- 
ious patient goes to the physician, he minutely relates 
every symptom of his disease; he tells particularly 
where the pain is, what like it is, when it came, and 
all about it, that he may receive the right remedy. 
So "our beloved brother Paul" 1 went into all the par- 
ticulars concerning the thorn in the flesh, when he 
prayed. He doubtless told the Maker of his frame 
more about it than he has told us. He told Him 
what it was precisely, how painful it was, how he 
feared it would hinder his usefulness, and earnestly 
implored that it might be taken away: "For this 
thing I besought the Lord." 

He prayed three times that the thorn might be 
removed : " For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, 
that it might depart from me." This may mean that 
he frequently prayed that he might be delivered from 
the bufferings of Satan's messenger, because the defi- 
nite is sometimes put for an indefinite number. Or, 
it may mean that he sought for relief on three sev- 
eral and solemn occasions. This last is the most prob- 
able opinion. Among the Jews, three was a sacred 
number, and it was customary for them to pray three 
times, and only three times, for any important bless- 
ing, or for the removal of any great calamity; and 
Paul conformed to this custom of his countrymen. 
1 II Pet, iii. 15. 



THE THORN IN THE FLESH 223 

And not only so, but he might have taken for his 
pattern the example of Christ, who prayed three 
times, and only three times, that our cup of trem- 
bling might pass from Him. 

You remember the scene of the Saviour's special 
sorrow. It was in the garden of Gethsemane, and at 
the noon of night, when His great and gentle heart 
began to break for us men and for our salvation. 
Feeling the need of human sympathy, He took with 
Him Peter, James, and John; and feeling greater 
need of divine sympathy, He fell on His face, and 
prayed, saying, " my Father, if it be possible, let 
this cup pass from me: nevertheless, not as I will, but 
as thou wilt." 1 And lifting Himself up Avith the help 
of the strengthening angel, He came to His disciples, 
and "found them sleeping for sorrow"; 2 and after 
mildly remonstrating with them, because they could 
not watch with Him one hour, " He went away again 
the second time, and prayed, saying, my Father, if 
this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink 
it, thy will be done. And He came and found them 
asleep again: for their eyes were heavy. And He 
1'lt them, and went away again, and prayed the third 
time, saying the same words." 3 After this third time, 
Jesus prayed no more that the cup might pass from 
Him. I nit patiently submitted to the will of His heav- 
enly Father. In like manner, when Paul had prayed 
three times that the thorn might be taken away, lie 
I his supplications altogether, and acquiesced in 
the will of God. 

' Mat. xxvi. 39. 2 Luko xxii. 45. 3 Mat. xxvi. 42-44 



224 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

And here, as elsewhere, we learn to pray in the 
time of trouble. This part of the text seems like a 
guide-post with an index finger painted on it, point- 
ing to the Lord " our refuge and strength, a very 
present help in trouble." 1 Prayer is a power mightier 
than Omnipotence; it is also a very precious privilege. 
One while it brings us up to heaven, and another 
while it brings heaven down to us, 

"And glory crowns the mercy-seat." 

When Daniel was mourning and fasting and praying, 
the Lord Jesus came to see him, and touched him, 
and lifted him up from the ground, and talked with 
him, saying, " Thy words were heard, and I am come 
for thy words." 2 

Trouble always brings Jesus near to those who love 
Him and serve Him for love. Sorrow is only another 
name for the royal chariot of heaven, "paved with 
love," 3 in which He who w r as once " a man of sor- 
rows"* comes driving down the darkened sky, with 
every axle glowing, to comfort those whom He has 
betrothed to Himself forever. With His own dear 
hands He gently removes the ashes from their heads, 
bowed down with grief, and crowns them with a 
bridal diadem of flowers; from II is horn of plenty 
He pours the oil of joy so abundantly into their bro- 
ken hearts, that there is no room for mourning any 
more: He unbinds the black "sackcloth of hair" 5 
from their fainting spirits, and girds them up with 

i Ps. xlvi. 1. 2 Dan. x. 12. 3 Cant. iii. 10. 

* Isa. liii. 3. fi Rev. vi. 12. 



THE THORN IN THE FLESH. 225 

the bright garment of praise, the beautiful "raiment 
of needlework," which is the wedding garment of 
His redeemed, and so prepares them for the marriage 
mansion, and the marriage supper, and the marriage 
portion: "With gladness and rejoicing shall they be 
brought; they shall enter into the King's palace." 1 
All glory be to the all -lovely Bridegroom for this 
faithful saying: "Thou shalt also be a crown of glory 
in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the 
hand of thy God." 2 

It is often doubtless the main design of trouble to 
bring the Saviours blood-bought people near to Him. 
Manasseh was a very wicked man, and as he was 
king in Jerusalem, his influence for evil was exceed- 
ing great. Pie turned "the house of the Lord" into 
an idol temple, and built altars in its courts "for all 
the host of heaven." Like bad men generally, he 
was very superstitious: "he observed times, and used 
enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a 
familiar spirit, and with wizards." 3 And, sorer still, 
be was a murderer, and shed more innocent blood 
than any of his predecessors. Nor was he satisfied to 
be wicked himself alone, for "he caused his children 
to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of 
Hinnom," and seduced the chosen generation, and 
"made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, 
and to iln worse than the heat lion." 4 

But this child of wrath was a chosen vessel, and 
you will notice now the divine method of bringing 

1 Ps. xlv. 15. - Isa. lxii. 3. 

3 II Chron. xxxiii. G. * II Clirou. xxxiii. 9. 



226 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

him to repentance and reformation : " The Lord spake 
to Manasseh, and to his people : but they would not 
hearken. Wherefore the Lord brought upon them 
the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which 
took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him 
with fetters, and carried him to Babylon. And when 
he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, 
and humbled himself greatly before the God of his 
fathers, and prayed unto Him, and He was entreated 
of him, and heard his supplication and brought him 
again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manas- 
seh knew that the Lord He was God." 1 

In the same rough but right way the Lord often 
deals with His people now, not willingly but neces- 
sarily. When they wander far from Him, and set up 
idols in their hearts, and love the creature more than 
the Creator, by His kind providences He calls them 
to return from their backslidings, but they will not 
hear; He calls again, but they give no heed. At 
last He is constrained to send some great calamity 
to bring them to Himself: their household gods are 
taken away one after another; "Their strength, the 
joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that 
whereupon they have set their minds, their sons and 
their daughters," 5 and sometimes the last and dearest 
idol of their home, must needs be laid in the grave 
before they will give their hearts to God. 

Many of the saints were born and brought into the 
kingdom through much tribulation : " I have chosen 
thee in the furnace of affliction." 3 Before the inva- 

1 II Ckron. xxxiii. 10-13. 2 Ezek. xxiv. 25. 3 i sa . xMii. 10. 



THE THORN IN THE FLESH. 227 

sion of his country by Napoleon, the then reigning 
emperor of Russia was not a religious man, because 
his mind was darkened; but the burning of Moscow 
illuminated his soul at last. From that moment, he 
learned to know God; from that moment, he became 
another man, and taking off his crown he laid it at 
the feet of Jesus. And when we are convinced that 
this is the chief end of any sorrow that may come 
upon us, the blessed trouble ought not to be called 
by that black name. 

" The thorn 'tis painful but pleasant to me, 
'Tis the message of mercy, it leads me to thee." 

It makes no matter in what form the affliction 
comes, it is either "our school-master to bring us 
unto Christ," 1 like the law of God; or else, like the 
love of God, it is our Sabbath-school teacher to bring 
us nearer to Christ. Our health may be sore broken, 
our riches may spread their undipped wings and fly 
away, the floods of ungodly men may make us afraid ; 
and when we are sinking down "in the lowest pit, 
in the darkness, in the deeps," 2 to whom shall we go, 
but to Jesus, who is the same tender-hearted, sympa- 
thi/iiig Son of man as when He dwelt among us: 
"For wo have not a High Priest which can not be 
touched with the feeling of our infirmities ; but was 
in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 
Lei us therefore come boldly onto the throne of grace, 
thai we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in 

time of need."' 

We u<>\ only learn to pray in the time of trouble, 
' Gal. iii. 21. 2 p 8 . lxxxviii. G. 3 Heb. iv. 15, 16. 



228 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

but we learn how to pray. In offering- up our desires 
unto God, we should be very particular. Our prayers 
are often altogether too general. They scatter widely 
over the whole world, and are powerless because they 
are pointless. Our arrows may be taken from God's 
own quiver, and feathered with the strongest faith; 
but when we bend the bow, if we take no sure and 
certain aim, they will do little or no execution. As 
soon as the thorn began to pierce Paul, he began to 
pray for its removal, and he prayed for it in the most 
particular maimer: "For this thing I besought the 
Lord." 

"When we are suffering affliction, it is not sufficient 
merely to make mention of it at the mercy-seat; it 
should be the burden of the message, and we ought 
to spread it out before the Lord in all its length and 
breadth. We should tell the Saviour when it came, 
how it came, how it feels, and all about it. "For this 
thing " we should pray, being assured that when Ave 
go to the throne of grace on a special errand, we shall 
never come away empty. 

If you were sick, you could hardly expect any help 
from your physician by telling him that you were not 
very well, and then neglecting or refusing to give the 
symptoms of your disease. And this is one great rea- 
son why so many go in vain to the great Physi- 
cian, they do not tell Him all about the hurt in the 
heart, and they get no heavenly balm to heal the 
bleeding wound. When Abraham learned that the 
son of the bondwoman was not the son of promise, 
he prayed for him by name, saying, in sorrow's own 



THE THORN IN THE FLESH 229 

old vernacular of anguish: "0 that Ishmael might 
live before thee ! " 1 And the Lord heard him and 
blessed Ishmael. When Peter was cast into prison 
and appointed unto death, the members of the mother 
church met together at Mark's mother's house and 
prayed "unto God for him"; 2 and before they sep- 
arated, he stood knocking at the door, and when they 
saw him, they were astonished. And, dearly beloved, 
if you are in any trouble just take it all to Jesus, and 
tell Him all about it, and you will be surprised to see 
how soon He will come to your relief; and the bones 
that are broken will begin to rejoice: "This poor man 
cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of 
all his troubles." 3 

We learn also that there should be a limit to our 
supplications. We may pray often, but not always, 
for the removal of our sorrows. The Master prayed 
three times that the cup might pass, and then ceased; 
and the apostle prayed three times that the thorn 
might depart, and then ceased. This does not prove 
that we should be limited to the same number of 
petitions when praying for the removal of affliction. 
Nevertheless, it does prove something; and when it 
becomes plain that our calamities are abiding, we 
ought straightway to submit to the will of our heav- 
enly Father, who is too wise to err in any of His 
dealings, and too good to be unkind to any of His 
children. When Jesus knew that it was not possible 
for the cup to pass from Him, with love to God He 
held it fast, and with love to man He drank it all. 
1 Gen. xvii. 18. 2 Acts xii. 5. - 1 Pa xxxiv. G. 



23O BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

And when Paul discovered that the thorn must needs 
abide with him always, he more than acquiesced in 
his infirmity. 

Though there may not come to us a messenger 
from heaven, nor a message from the mercy-seat, to 
inform us that our calamities are permanent, there 
are other ways in which we may learn this fact. 
And when we are thoroughly convinced that our 
sorrows must remain with us, it would be positively 
wicked to weary the throne of grace any more for 
their removal. While his child was yet alive, David 
prayed for his recovery: he prayed that his child 
might be spared, though he knew that he must 
"surely die." 1 But when at last the loved one fell 
asleep, the king cheerfully submitted to the will of 
his heavenly Father. 

And believing that such overwhelming afflictions 
are as consistent with the divine paternity as with 
the divine sovereignty, parents should have a care 
neither to murmur nor to mourn immoderately when 
their little children are taken away, lest haply they 
be found "even to fight against God," 2 and against 
themselves as well; for soon or late, "as the vessels 
of a potter shall they be broken to shivers," 3 who 
runneth "upon the thick bosses of His bucklers." 4 

In England, a minister was praying at the bedside 
of a sick child, and after asking earnestly for its re- 
covery, he went on to say: "But, if thou hast other- 
wise ordained, and hast purposed to take this child 

i II Sam. xii. 14. 2 Acts v. 39. 

3 Kev. ii. 27. 4 Job xv. 26. 



THE THORN IN THE FLESH. 23 1 

away — " "0 no," interrupted the mother, "never; 
don't say so, I can not have it;" and after this 
manner, more than once, during the prayer, she pro- 
tested against the sovereign will of God. The min- 
ister was much grieved at this want of submission to 
God's most holy will. He and that mother both lived 
to see that child perish on the gallows by the hand 
of the hangman, at the age of twenty-five : "Shall the 
axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith ? 
or shall the saw magnify itself against him that 
shaketh it ? as if the rod should shake itself against 
them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up 
iteelf as if it were no wood." 1 

The answer that Paul received to his repeated 
prayer, concerning the thorn, is worthy of special 
remark and everlasting remembrance: "He said unto 
me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength 
i.s niadu perfect in weakness." It makes no matter in 
what Avay this sweet saying came down from heaven, 
it came; it came from the kind and mighty Jesus: 
'■ lb- said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee." 
Tli is was the answer to the apostle's earnest and re- 
peated prayer; but it was not the answer that he 
desired and expected. His request was not granted 
in tin- precise form in which it was presented. 

There are many ways in which prayer is answered. 
Often the answer comes down according to our ask- 
BOg, and we receive the very blessing that we seek. 
After Samuel was born, his mother said, "For this 
child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my peti- 
' Isa. x. 15. 



232 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

tion Avhicli I asked of Him." 1 We receive not only 
according to our asking, but " exceeding abundantly 
above all that we ask or think." 2 Hannah prayed for 
one child, and God gave her six; for she had three 
sons beside Samuel and two daughters. 

Not unfrequently, we find no relief in prayer, and 
are tempted to think that our request has been de- 
nied; but it only seems to be denied, because the 
answer is delayed. When the poor broken-hearted 
Syro-Phenician woman came to Jesus, and prayed for 
her dear little daughter, "He answered her not a 
word," 3 and His silence seemed very severe. But 
when the disciples interceded for her, His answer to 
them seemed severer still, "I am not sent but unto 
the lost sheep of the house of Israel." This might 
have closed the door of hope, but her strong faith 
prompted her to believe that the good Master could 
be persuaded to go beyond His commission, just once; 
and so she prayed on, saying, " Lord, help me." But 
He said to her, "It is not meet to take the children's 
bread and cast it to dogs." And melting these cold 
words of contempt, that seemed like drawn swords, in 
the fire of maternal love, she speedily forged them 
into an argument that Christ could only answer by 
giving her all the desire of her heart: "Truth, Lord; 
yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their 
master's table. Then Jesus answered and said unto 
her, woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee 
even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made 
whole from that very hour." 4 
» I Sam. i. 27. = Eph. iii. 20. 3 Mat. xv. 24. ■» Mat. xv. 27, 26 



THE THORN IN THE FLESH. 233 

And then again, without waiting, we receive an 
answer to our prayers in peace. Sometimes the ask- 
ing is anticipated by the answer, and the needed 
supply is on the way before the want is quite ex- 
pressed : " For thou preventest him with the blessings 
of goodness." 1 The door of mercy flies wide open at 
the first and faintest knock of faith; and while the 
petition is going up to heaven on one wire of our 
spiritual telegraph, the answer is coining down on the 
other, swifter than the swiftest flash of lightning: "It 
shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; 
and while they are yet speaking, I will hear." 2 

But, perhaps, in most cases the answer is neither 
anticipated nor delayed; it is only different from the 
expressed desire. We ask for health, and sickness 
comes upon us ; we ask for prosperity, and adversity 
gathers round us. We ask that we may be delivered 
from some great sorrow, and we receive strength 
to endure it. This Avas Paul's case precisely. He 
prayed that the thorn might depart from him, and 
Jesus said, " My grace is sufficient for thee." And 
this answer was better every way than the one that 
he expected; that so where grief abounded, grace 
might much more abound. The grace of the Lord 
Jesus was of unspeakable value to the apostle after- 
lie came from heaven. Had the thorn been taken 
away, bis spiritual pride, "the sin which doth so 
easily beset," 8 would have come hack upOD him with 
the strength of seven devils; and now, the (ether that 
kepi him down having been broken, he would have 

1 Pa xxi. 3. 2 Isa. lxv. 21. 3 Hob. xii. 1. 



234 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

bounded away up out of sight, like an inflated bal- 
loon on the wings of a whirlwind. The Master knew 
best what was best for His leal-hearted servant. He 
saw that what he wanted was not for his own good, 
so instead of granting his request literally, and tak- 
ing away the thorn, He gave him grace to balance 
and to bear it. 

From which we learn that our prayers are answered 
often when we think they are not. We Avill suppose 
that you are in great affliction. Your dearest child 
is sick. Morning, noon, and night, you pray for his 
recovery; yet all the while his cheeks grow paler, his 
pulse beats feebler, and every symptom waxes worse 
and worse. There seems to be no answer. Again 
you go to the throne of grace, saying, with strong 
crying and tears, " How long, Lord, how long ? 
that thou wouldst rend the heavens and come down ! " 
And while you are pleading at the mercy-seat, you 
are called to come quickly and see the loved one 
vanish from your view. There was no answer to 
your many supplications; you thought so; you said 
so: "When I cry and shout, He shutteth out my 
prayer." 1 But yet, after all, it was not so. There 
was an answer to your every petition, and I trust 
you will permit me to tell you how the answer came 
while you were yet on your knees. 

Your heavenly Father saw what you could not see : 

that it was best for His glory, and your good, and 

the good of your child, that your prayer should not 

be answered according to the asking, and He made 

1 Lam. iii. 8. 



THE THORN IN THE FLESH. 235 

answer to correspond with jour wants rather than 
with your wishes. When the child was taken sick, 
von thought that he might die ; and that painful per- 
adventure pierced through your soul like "a thorn 
in the flesh." You believed that you could never 
part with such a precious treasure ; that it was more 
'than human nature could bear; that it Avould break 
your heart, and bring down your gray hairs with 
sorrow to the grave. 

But when the blow came, how did you feel ? Tell 
me truly, were you not disappointed at yourself: were 
you not perfectly resigned to the will of God, and so 
sweetly sustained, by His almighty grace, in your 
sacred sorrow, that, almost without mourning, and 
altogether without murmuring, you laid the dear, 
dead dust in the place of peaceful rest, and "de- 
parted quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great 
joy." 1 And how could this come to pass, except 
in answer to prayer ? This petition went up to 
heaven: "My Jesus, my Jesus, spare my child, take 
him not away!" And this answer came down from 
heaven : " .My grace is sufficient for thee;" and it was 
sufficient. 

We Learn, further, that a good supply of grace is 
the best answer to any prayer. This may be saying 
the same thing over again ; nevertheless we can not 
help dwelling on it a little longer. There can be no 
question bul thai Paul was better pleased with the 
answer of grace, than he would have been with the 
answer he expected. He understood the Saviour's 
1 Mat. xxviii. 8. 



236 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

meaning perfectly, that though the thorn could not 
be taken away he should be strengthened to endure 
it, and so it would be all the same, and even better 
than the removal of the calamity. 

Let us take again the case of the mother and her 
child; and you may be that mother. You prayed 
fervently and frequently, and perhaps with insubmis- 
sion, for the life of your child. Did you know what 
you were doing? If that loved one had lived, there 
might have been some evil in store for him all the 
days of his life ; and you were praying that he might 
be spared to his own perpetual sorrow. He might 
have been more than unfortunate: he might have 
been exceedingly wicked ; and you were praying 
that he might be spared to plant the sharpest thorns 
in your daily path and in your dying pillow: "A 
foolish son is the heaviness of his mother." 1 David 
had a thousand times more trouble with his son Ab- 
salom than he had from the death of the child for 
whom he prayed so earnestly. 

And it is just so of other things as well as bereave- 
ment. God has often something better in store for 
us than the desire of our heart in prayer. We are 
so ignorant of ourselves, and our needs, that we 
know not what to pray for as we ought. The bless- 
ing that we seek might prove a consuming curse, 
and it would be better for us to be denied. In the 
wilderness, the Israelites despised the manna and de- 
sired meat; they loathed the light food, and lusted 
for something better than "the bread of heaven"; 2 
1 Prov. x. 1. 2 Ps. cv. 40. 



THE THORN IN THE FLESH. 237 

and the Lord sent them flesh to eat, for a whole 
month; but the plague came with the quails, and so 
many of the people died that the place where they 
were encamped became a cemetery: "He gave them 
their request, but sent leanness into their soul." 1 

When your children are sick, and ask for meat, 
you sometimes give them medicine. It would be 
dangerous to let them have what they desire, and 
you give them what you know their condition de- 
mands. Our God is a good Physician ; He is also a 
tender-hearted Father, and He supplies the wants 
rather than the wishes of His children. And since 
in every duty, in every difficulty, and in all our dis- 
tresses He meets us with suitable, seasonable, and 
sufficient grace, we ought to be exceeding glad: 
"Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: 
I myself will awake early." 2 

It makes no matter Avhat the trial may be, under 
which we are suffering, this faithful saying, "My 
grace is sufficient for thee," comes down into the 
troubled soul, like oil on the raging sea, and imme- 
diately there is a great calm. It may be sickness, 
hut Jesus "Himself took our infirmities and bare our 
sicknesses."' He takes and bears them still, and our- 
selves as well, with both I lis hands; for when pros- 
trated on the bed of languishing, "His left hand is 
under my head, and Bis right hand doth embrace 
me." 4 It may be adversity, hut Jesus is a friend 
who loveth at all times,— tin; brother "born for ad- 

1 Ps. cvi. 15. 2 p s . ivii. 8 . 

3 Mat. viii. 17. 4 Cant. ii. 6. 



238 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

versify"; 1 and in the cloudy and dark day, He comes 
to glorify our tears of grief, and make the murky 
atmosphere of earth to blossom with the best music 
of heaven. It may be death itself; but, hush ! even 
down here in the thickest darkness, I hear the sweet- 
est bleatings of Messiah's sheep: "Yea, though I walk 
through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear 
no evil : for thou art with me ; thy rod and thy staff 
they comfort me." 2 

Nowhere, in the word of God, are we promised 
more grace than we need ; but everywhere, and 
under all circumstances, sufficient grace is promised: 
"My God shall supply all your need." 3 The fountain 
of blessing is full up to the brim, and overflowing, 
and ever flowing; and when we are most in need, 
it flows all the faster, like the " streams from Leb- 
anon"; 4 that we may have always "all sufficiency in 
all things"; 5 never enough and to spare, but always 
enough. 

When Napoleon was about to cross the Alps, he 
wearied himself in preparing the grand army for 
the grand expedition. He prohibited the usual daily 
parade, that the soldiers might be rested; and pro- 
vided for them plenty of provisions, that they might 
be strengthened for the perilous journey; he also pur- 
chased warm woollen garments for them, and shoes 
that were heavy and strong. And while the camp 
was all commotion in making ready for the great un- 
dertaking, their wise commander, who seemed never 

1 Prov. xvii. 17. 2 Ps. xxiii. 4. 3 Phil. iv. 19. 

« Cant. iv. 15. 5 II Cor. ix. S. 



THE THORN IN THE FLESH. 239 

to forget any thing, sent away secretly a large quan- 
tity of extra rations, which were left here and there 
along the line of march; and as wearily the brave 
men climbed over the rocks and hills they were fre- 
quently halted and refreshed with a bottle of wine 
and a loaf of bread from these special storehouses 
along the way. 

In like manner, Immanuel's army is thoroughly 
furnished for crossing "the mountains of Bether," 1 
betwixt this and the better country. The road is 
crooked and rough, and the hills of difficulty are 
higher and harder to climb than the Alps; but the 
Captain of our salvation has provided for us shoes 
of "iron and brass;" 2 and all along the wisely chosen 
way there are fresh supplies of all kinds of grace. 
There is wine and milk, and manna and meat, and 
all manner of needful food: "No good thing will He 
withhold." 3 Blessed be His glorious name forever, 
'■ If- maketh my feet like hinds' feet:" 4 so sure that 
I shall not slip even in slippery places ; and so swift 
that, with Himself and like Himself, I shall go "leap- 
ing upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills." 5 

Jesus is our companion in tribulation, and takes 
the heaviest end of every cross that is laid upon our 
shoulder; and our greatest extremity is the golden 
opportunity for the manifestation of His almighty 
grace: " In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen." 6 
It was "in the fourth watch of the night," 7 that He 

• Cant. ii. 17. 2 Deut. xxxiii. 25. 3 Ps. lxxxiv. 11. 

* Pa xviii. 33. r > Cant. ii. 8. s Gen. xxii. 14. 
» Mat. xiv. 25. 



240 BEAUTY FOR A STIES 

went unto His despairing disciples in the storm, tread- 
ing down the tempest with His feet, and, saying, so 
sweetly, "Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid." 
It was when they were drifting, and "neither sun 
nor stars in many days appeared," l and no small 
tempest lay on them, and all hope that they should 
be saved was taken away, that Ho sent His angel to 
stand by His apostle, saying, " Fear not, Paul." Nay, 
more, it was when Himself had fainted and fallen on 
the ground in Gethsemane, and was sweating blood, 
that He was lifted up in the strengthening angel's 
arms. And knowing, by such experience, that the 
time of need is the set time to show Himself friendly, 
He hastens to our help. Our frail life-bark may be 
heavy-ladened, and laboring with the storm, and hope 
may have left the helm long ago; but through the 
snapping cordage of the sinking ship there comes 
this charming cadence from beyond the sky: "My 
grace is sufficient for thee." It is wafted to mine 
ear with every rushing wind, and eveiy rising wave. 
What though the man on the lookout cries, "breakers 
ahead? " there is another and a sweeter voice; it is the 
voice of my Beloved saying unto me, " My grace is 
sufficient for thee;" and, therefore, if not with a fair 
wind filling all the sails, and singing friends ahead, 
"having a desire to depart," 2 still in the little life-boat, 
or on some floating fragment of the wreck, I shall 
reach the shining shore at last: "So He bringeth 
them unto their desired haven." 3 So! by tasking to 
the utmost their strength and their seamanship, "toil- 
i Acts xxvii. 20. ~ Phil. i. 23. s p s . cv ii. 30. 



THE THORN IN THE FLESH. 24 1 

ing in rowing-" 1 along the coast of old carnality, 
where the weather never clears, and they are in 
jeopardy every hour; often praying like Peter, "Lord 
save me"; 2 and always fearing like Paul, "Lest that 
by any means, when I have preached to others, I 
myself should be a castaway." 3 So! by taking the 
helm into His own hand, and changing their course, 
saying, "Let us go over unto the other side;" 4 and 
almost immediately they are sailing among the spice 
islands of " a pure heart," 5 and " perfect love," ° and 
"perfect peace;" 7 where the air is always fragrant, 
and the waters are always quiet, and the skies are 
always clear. So! by mounting "up to heaven," and 
going "down again to the depths." So! by reeling to 
and fro, and staggering " like a drunken man." So ! 
"some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the 
ship."* "So He bringeth them unto their desired 
haven." "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: 
for the first heaven and the first earth were passed 
away: and there was no more sea." 9 

"0 happy harbor of God's saints ! 

sweet and pleasant soil ! 
In thee no sorrows can be found, 

No grief, no care, no toil." 

Paul's determination to glory in the thorn is the 
last thing in the text, and it is a very wonderful 
thing: ".Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in 
my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest 
upon me." The greatest man that God ever made, 

' Murk vi. 48. 2 Mat. xiv. 30. 3 I Cor. ix. 27. 

* Luke viii. 22. » Ps. xxiv. 4. c I John iv. 18. 

1 Isa. xxvi. 3. ft Acts xxvii. 44. " Rev. xxi. 1. 
16 



242 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

seems to be laboring here to find language strong 
enough to express the joyful feelings of his soul: 
gladly, — most gladly, — most gladly therefore will I 
rather glory in my infirmities. That piercing sorrow 
which Drought the Saviour so near with His over- 
shadowing presence, His sustaining power, and His 
comforting Spirit, was the sweetest pleasure in the 
world to Paul, and the brightest gem in the crown of 
his rejoicing. Just as soon as the messenger of Satan 
came to buffet him, the Lord of angels encamped 
round about him; and, through the darkness of grief, 
he saw the glory of the Lord in its "perfection of beau- 
ty ; " and was " changed into the same image, from 
glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." 1 

And, blessed be His name, this same Jesus, who 
did so much for "our beloved brother Paul," 2 will do 
as much for you and me: " For in the time of trouble 
He shall hide me in His pavilion: in the secret of His 
tabernacle shall He hide me ; He shall set me up upon 
a rock." 3 "0 magnify the Lord with me, and let us 
exalt His name together." 4 The disposition to rejoice 
in sorrow, and glory in tribulation, is doubtless the 
highest attainment in the divine life, and few there 
be that reach it. Even among the oldest and most 
eminent saints, there are not many who can rise high 
enough in holiness to say out of a broken heart: 
" Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my in- 
firmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." 

I enter a house where a Christian is wasting away 

i n Cor. iii. 18. 2 II Pet. iii. 15. 

3 Ps. xxvii. 5. 4 Ps. xsxiv. 3. 



THE THORN IN THE FLESH 243 

with a " pining sickness." I say to him : " How do 
you feel to-day, my dear brother ? Are you resigned 
to the Avay in which God is leading you to Himself; 
and can you say, ' Thy will be done ' ? " There is a 
painful pause; something like a tear gathers in his 
eye ; and at last he speaks, saying, so sadly, " Well, 
yes, I am striving to feel resigned. Life is sweet, 
and I would like to get better; but if I may not, I 
suppose I must submit, and say, ' Thy will be done.' " 
I enter another dwelling, and find "an old dis- 
ciple" 1 in great distress, and almost, distracted. His 
willingness to help others over the hard times in- 
volved him deep in debt; and he has just made an 
assignment of his effects for the benefit of his cred- 
itors, who are compassing him about like bees, to 
suck the last drops of honey from the fading flowers 
of his fortune. His business is utterly destroyed; his 
home is broken up; and he is so far advanced in 
years, that he can never expect to gain again what 
he Ins lost; besides, his health is breaking down be- 
neath the heavy burden he can not bear. After sit- 
ting at his side in silent sympathy for a little while, 
I venture to express the hope that he is feeling rec- 
onciled to the dispensation of Providence which has 
left him so desolate; and his reply is something like 
this: "I am feeling, sir, as well as can be expected. 
1 have seen better days, and it is painful beyond all 
1c] ling to come down from riches to poverty; but it 
was not inv own fault; I could not help it, and of 
course 1 must make the best of it." 
1 Acts xxi. 10. 



244 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

I am constrained to call at another honse, which 
was once so sweet a home, that it seemed like the 
lower story of heaven; but now the windows are all 
darkened, and a piece of white crape is hanging at 
the door. In the front parlor there is a beautiful 
casket where the baby sleeps arrayed in "raiment of 
needlework;" and in the nursery there is an empty 
crib, beside which the father and mother are bowed 
down with grief too great for tears. Kepeating some 
of the precious promises which were made for those 
who mourn, I ask them if they can not say with the 
patriarch : " The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken 
away; blessed be the name of the Lord." 1 And in 
language, every letter of which seems such a tear as 
only the soul can shed, they answer after this man- 
ner: "We can say, the Lord gave, and we can say, 
the Lord hath taken away; but w r e can not say, 
blessed be the name of the Lord. Oh no, we can not 
bless the Lord for such a blow as this." 

Leaving now these children of their heavenly Fa- 
ther, who are striving to feel resigned to His will, 
and make the best of it, and can not bless His name, 
let us go together and call upon another Christian 
man who has lost his property, his friends, his health, 
his liberty, and who is soon to lose his life. He is in 
prison ; he is in the inner prison, so deep down under 
the ground that there is no day there. As we de- 
scend the stone stairs, we must have a care, lest we 
stumble and fall. The double darkness of night is in 
the dungeon ; but, by the light of our lantern, we can 
' Job i. 21. 



THE THORN IN THE FLESH. 245 

Bee the poor prisoner. He is an old man; but he 
looks much older than he really is. He is small of 
stature, and thin, and pale, and sickly. There are 
letters of iron on his hands, and his feet are chained 
to the floor; because he is under sentence of death, 
and the time of his departure is at hand. For your 
sakes, let me speak with him for a few moments. 

" Brother Saul," ' you have had a very sorrowful 
life, by all accounts. 

'•Troubled 011 every side, yet not distressed; per- 
plexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not for- 
saken; cast down, but not destroyed ; 2 as chastened, 
and not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as 
poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and 
yet possessing all things. 3 What things were gain to 
me, those I counted- loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, 
and I count all things but loss for the excellency of 
the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I 
have suffered the loss of all things." * 

"It seems that you have had an unusual share of 
labor and sorrow." 

•• \\i labors more abundant, in stripes above meas- 
ure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the 
five times received I forty stripes save one. 
Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, 
thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have 
been in the deep; in journeyings often, in perils of 
8, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine Own 
countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the 

» Acts ix. 17. =11 Cor. iv. 8, 9. 

a II Cor. vi. 9, 10. « Phil. iii. 7. 8. 



246 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, 
in perils among false brethren ; in weariness and pain- 
fulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in 
fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Beside those 
things that are without, that which cometh upon me 
daily, the care of all the churches." 1 

"And are you not crushed with these numerous 
and overwhelming calamities?" 

"None of these things move me, neither count I my 
life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course 
with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of 
the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of 
God. 2 I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in 
necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's 
sake ; for when I am weak, then am I strong." 3 

" But about thirty years ago, when you were 
' caught to the third heaven,' a special trouble came 
upon you, and has tormented you ever since. How 
have you been able to bear it so long ? " 

" Lest I should be exalted above measure through 
the abundance of the revelations, there was given to 
me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to 
buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. 
For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it 
might depart from me. And He said unto me, My 
grace is sufficient for thee ; for my strength is made 
perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I 
rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of 
Christ may rest upon me." 4 

' II Cor. xi. 23-28. 2 Acts xx. 24. 

3 II Cor. xii. 10. * H Cor. xii. 7-9. 



THE THORN IN THE FLESH 2\"J 

Let us learn, therefore, to take joyfully all our afflic- 
tions. There is a mine of fine gold, there is a bank 
of great wealth in our present sufferings. They are 
positive blessings, though they seem not so. As a 
part of the special providence of a wise and loving 
Father, they can be nothing else but blessings; bless- 
ings in disguise they may be; nevertheless they are 
blessings indeed, because they come from God for 
good; and when rightly improved they develop in us 
the loveliest traits of character. It is a truth which 
we learn alike from revelation and experience, that 
our sorrows are salutary and sanctifying: "When He 
hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold." 1 In the 
burning, fiery furnace, grace is beautified to glory. 
How joyfully then should we take our afflictions! 

And yet how few there are who are able to do so. 
Most people mourn in affliction, many murmur, while 
some manifest a rebellious spirit. When he was sick, 
" Hezekiah wept sore ; " 2 when he was in trouble, 
Jacob said, "All these things are against me;" 3 when 
his gourd perished, "it displeased Jonah exceedingly, 
and he was very angry;" 4 when he went to the 
funeral of Jerusalem, Jeremiah wrote the Lamenta- 
tions, beginning with these weeping words, " How 
doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people!" 5 
win -ii she was bereaved of her children, Kachel "would 
not be comforted;"' by the rivers of Babylon, the cap- 
tive Israelites hanged their harps on the willows, say- 

1 Job xxiii. 10. 2 Isa. xxxviri. 3. 

3 Gen. xlii. 36. « Jonah iv. 1. 

» Lam. i. 1. « Mat. ii. 18. 



248 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

ing, to those who required of them a song: "How 
shall we sing- the Lord's song in a strange land"? 1 

I need not say that such conduct is unbecoming in 
the children of the kingdom who have learned the 
divine philosophy of suffering. For our own sake, 
for the sake of others, and for Christ's sake, we ought 
to be still like Aaron, who "held his peace" 2 when he 
heard about the terrible death of Nadab and Abihu ; 
we ought to be silent like David, when in some great 
distress he said to God, " 1 Avas dumb, I opened not 
my mouth; because thou didst it 1 '; 3 we ought to be 
patient like Job, who cried up to heaven out of the 
deepest depths: "Though He slay me, yet will I trust 
in Him;" 4 Ave ought to be happy, like the HebreAvs 
Avho "took joyfully the spoiling" 5 of their goods; Ave 
ought to be prayerful, like the disciples of the be- 
headed Baptist, avIio "took up the body and buried 
it, and Avent and told Jesus"; 6 Ave ought to be thank- 
ful like Paul and Silas, AA r ho "sang praises" 7 in prison. 

Such living epistles as these last are better than 
the best sermons. They are the strongest arguments 
for the truth of Christianity, and recommend our re- 
ligion more than the most eloquent preachers. It 
Avas the fine saying of an ancient heathen, that "A 
good man struggling with adversity is a sight for the 
gods to look at" The same grand idea must have 
been in the mind of Paul Avhen he said, " I think that 
God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it Avere 

1 Ps. cxxxvii. 4. 2 Lev. x. 3. 3 Ps. xxxix. 9. 

< Job xiii. 15. * Heb. x. 34. c Mat. xiv. 12. 

' Acts xvi. 25. 



THE THORN IN THE FLESH 249 

appointed to death : for we are made a spectacle unto 
the world, and to angels, and to men." l 

Dearly beloved, let us be so contented with any- 
thing, so careful for nothing, so prayerful in every 
thing, so patient in sickness, so hopeful in bereave- 
ment, and so "exceeding joyful in all our tribula- 
tion," 2 that we may win many to Christ by our 
example, and so become to some purpose "a spectacle 
unto the world, and to angels, and to men." 

"Sing, heavens; and be joyful, earth; and 
break forth into singing, mountains: for the Lord 
hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon 
his afflicted." 3 

"Now unto Him that is able to keep you from 
falling, and to present you faultless before the pres- 
ence of His glory with exceeding joy, to the only 
wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, domin- 
ion and power, both now and ever. Amen." 4 

1 I Cor. iv. 9. 2 II Cor. vii. 4. 

3 Isa. xlix. 13. * Jude 24. 



1 Father, I know that all my lifo 

Is portioned out for me; 
And the changes that are sure to come, 

I do not fear to see: 
But I ask thee for a present mind 

Intent on pleasing thee. 

' I ask thee for a thankful love, 
Through constant watching wise, 

To meet the glad with joyful smiles, 
And to wipe the weeping eyes, 

And a heart at leisure from itself, 
To soothe and sympathize. 



250 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

"I would not have the restless will 
That hurries to and fro, 

Seeking for some great thing to do 
Or secret thing to know; 

I would be dealt with as a child, 
And guided where to go. 

"Wherever in the world I am, 

In whatsoe'er estate, 
I have a fellowship with hearts, 

To keep and cultivate; 
And a work of holy love to do, 

For the Lord on whom I wait. 

"I ask thee for the daily strength, 
To none that ask denied; 
And a mind to blend with outward life, 

While keeping at thy side, 
Content to fill a little space, 
If thou be glorified. 

"And if some things I do not ask, 
In my cup of blessing be, 

I would have my spirit filled the more 
With grateful love to thee — 

More careful than to serve thee much, 
To please thee perfectly. 

"There are briers besetting every path, 
That call for patient care ; 
There is a crook in every lot, 
And a need for earnest prayer, 
• But a lowly heart that leans on thee, 
Is happy everywhere." 

Anna L. Waking. 



THE HAPPY MOURNERS. 



CHAPTER X. 

"And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great 
joy, and did run to bring His disciples ■zaord." — Mat. xxviii. 8. 

THIS text came to me as I turned away from the 
tomb of a departed friend; and, like a cloud of 
incense, it lias been flitting- in the firmament of my 
mind ever since. I was weary, and it was a word in 
season; I was hungry, and it was sweet to my taste; 
I was in " the valley of the shadow of death," and it 
arched all that dark place with a rainbow of radiant 
hope, which was pleasant to the eyes. 

This precious passage of Scripture was not new to 
me, and yet it was new. I had read it, I know not 
how many times ; and yet it seemed as if I had never 
read it at all; because the significance and sweetness 
of its meaning were never so manifest before: "Thy 
words were found, and I did eat them ; and thy word 
was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart." 1 
It was the channel through which there came to me 
" Beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the 
garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness"; 3 and 
as there is a valley of Baca everywhere, and a goodly 
number of pilgrims always passing through it, I have 
thought that it might prove a well-spring of pleasure 
' Jcr. xv. 1G. 2 Isa. lsi. 3. 



254 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

to some of you, and so I have taken it for my present 
theme. 

The grave is generally regarded as a gloomy place ; 
a place peculiarly consecrated to grief; a place of 
tears and trouble and great tribulation. We go there 
in silence, and slowly, as grief always goes. The ser- 
vice at the grave is more solemn than any other; and 
with sadness in our hearts, and on our countenances, 
Ave take the last long look at the place where the 
loved one is laid, and turn away weeping such tears 
as only the soul can shed. 

But, blessed be God, the text tells us of one grave 
from which the mourners went away with " great 
joy." We need not say to you that this was the 
Saviour's grave, and that these happy mourners were 
"Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, 
and Salome." 1 Very early in the morning of the 
first Christian Sabbath, and while " it was yet dark," 2 
these devoted women went unto the sepulchre; they 
went slowly, for they were sad ; they went there to 
weep, and they did weep ; they went there bringing 
"sweet spices" with which they desired and expected 
to embalm the dead body of their dear Redeemer. As 
they drew near the sacred place, "They said among 
themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from 
the door of the sepulchre? And when they looked, 
they saw that the stone was rolled away." 3 "For 
the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and 
came and rolled back the stone from the door, and 
sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, 
1 Mark xvi. 1. * John xx. 1. 3 Mark xvi. 3. 



THE HAPPY MOURNERS. 255 

and his raiment white as snow; and for fear of him, 
the keepers did shake, and became as dead men." 1 

And if those Koman soldiers, who were strangers 
to fear, were now trembling through this very emo- 
tion, it is no wonder that these three timid, sorrow- 
ing, and unprotected women were also afraid. But 
when the angel of the sepulchre addressed them in 
these words of good cheer, they were greatly com- 
forted: "Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, 
which was crucified. He is not here: for He is risen 
as He said. Come see the place where the Lord lay." 2 

The Saviour's tomb was empty; and that is the 
reason their sorrow was turned into joy. Their risen 
Eedeemer had gone before them into Galilee, where 
they would soon see Him again, and their joy was 
full. "They departed quickly." Gladness goes quick- 
ly always, and can scarcely ever go quick enough: 
and, forgetful of their dignity, they "did run to bring 
His disciples word." "They departed quickly from 
the sepulchre with fear and great joy." Fear was 
mingled with their gladness; but, under the circum- 
stances, this was natural and might have been expe- 
rienced without any sorrow; and even if it could not, 
their joy was the prevailing emotion; for it is said of 
this only, that it was great. 

It came too, so suddenly, so unexpectedly, and in 
such good measure, that it is not strange if its com- 
panion fear came with it, causing them to rejoice 
with trembling, but yet to rejoice with exceeding 
great joy. And making haste, they did run with 
1 Mat. xxviii. 2-4. 8 Mat. xxviii. 5, G. 



256 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

elated feet to bring the glad tidings to the brethren, 
"as they mourned and wept," 1 that their sorrow, also, 
might be turned into joy. 

But these happy mourners at the Master's tomb are 
not alone in their pleasant experience. Contrary to 
my expectations, I have felt the same; and, doubt- 
less, some of you have felt the same, when coming 
away from the graves of your departed friends. 

Come then, dearly beloved, and let us gather up 
those crumbs of comfort which the blessed gospel has 
scattered around the graves of those who sleep in 
Jesus; and however small they may seem when taken 
separately, the sum of them will be strong consolation, 
filling our hearts with joy and gladness, as we turn 
away from the place where Jesus was laid, and where 
His angels still are sitting, — one at the head, and 
another at the feet of every Christian in the cemetery. 

Our blessed and beloved dead shall live again. The 
Saviour's empty sepulchre is an eloquent preacher, and 
the anointed minister of sweeter comfort than even 
Barnabas, " the son of consolation." 2 It has neither 
speech nor language; yet its silent voice is plainly 
heard, in many a broken heart, saying, so positively: 
"Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead 
body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell 
in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the 
earth shall cast out the dead." 3 

As the resurrection of Christ was predicted, by 
Himself, and remembered by His enemies, it should 
have been expected by His friends; but, strange 
1 Mark xvi. 10. 2 Acts iv. 36. 3 Isa. xxvi. 10. 



THE HAPPY MOURNERS. 2$7 

to say, it does not seem to have been in all their 
thoughts. Even those who believed in Him with all 
their hearts, and loved Him, as they loved their own 
lives, were not looking for such an event. The desire 
of the women, and their preparations to complete the 
embalmment of His broken body, is evidence enough 
that they were not expecting its resurrection. And, 
stranger still, though the third day had dawned, the 
first sight of the Saviour's empty sepulchre only in- 
creased their sorrow; for they supposed that it had 
been desecrated. The weeping words of Mary Mag- 
dalene, in which she gives the reason of her grief, are 
more bitter than her tears: "They have taken away 
my Lord, and I know not where they have laid 
Him." 1 

Even the apostles, who were chosen expressly to 
be the witnesses of the Saviour's resurrection, were 
not looking for the reappearance of their Master, as 
they should have been, and gave no heed to the glad 
tidings brought by the women: "Their words seemed 
to them as idle tales, and they believed them not." 3 
And when Jesus Himself appeared among them, that 
same evening, in the upper room, "they were terri- 
fied and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen 
a spirit;"' and He was obliged to appeal to them to 
come and prove His personal identity: "Behold my 
bands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me 
ami see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye 
see me have."' 

' John xx. 13. 2 Luke xxiv. 11. 

3 Luke xxiv. 37. « Luke xxiv. 39. 

17 



258 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

The suggestion that the Saviour's friends were 
all deceived concerning the resurrection is scarcely 
worthy of any serious consideration, because they 
were persons of ordinary intelligence, and were well 
enough qualified to decide a matter of fact. Besides, 
the Saviour's appearances were frequent and. familiar, 
and were continued for forty days; and, having so 
"many infallible proofs," 1 they could not be mistaken. 

Still less worthy of any serious consideration is the 
kindred suggestion, that they conspired together to 
deceive others. It is neither probable nor possible 
that they would suffer the loss of all things, and life 
itself at last, for the sake of telling a lie. Nothing 
but the truth of the resurrection can account for their 
conduct in giving their bodies so cheerfully to be 
beaten, to be beheaded, and to be burned for " Jesus 
and the resurrection." 2 The crucifixion and the res- 
urrection of our Lord are the most wonderful events 
in the history of the world; and they are both of 
them equally well authenticated ; and the last is the 
crowning glory of the first, and the spring of all our 
joys for this world and that which is to come: " If in 
this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all 
men most miserable." : 

It makes no matter how many modern Sadducees 
may deny the doctrine of the resurrection, nor how 
learnedly they may reason against it, because that 
which is actual is possible: "The thing that hath 
been, it is that which shall be; and that which is 
done is that which shall be done."* If one dead 
1 Acts i. 3. 2 Acts svii. 18. 3 1 Cor. xv. 19. * Eccl. i. 9. 



THE HAPPY MOURNERS. 259 

body has been raised to life, every dead body may 
be raised to life; if one grave has been emptied of 
its tenant, every grave may be emptied of its ten- 
ant: "But every man in his own order: Christ the 
first fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at His 
coining." 1 

! But the resurrection of Jesus is more than a pledge, 
it is also the pattern of the resurrection of His people. 
The same body that was born in Bethlehem and laid 
in the manger; the same body that aged Simeon took 
in his arms; the same body that was scourged; the 
6ame body that was pierced; the same body that was 
buried, — rose again: "Thomas, reach hither thy finger, 
and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, 
and thrust it into my side; and be not faithless, but 
believing." ■ 

So the same body which we now have, we shall 
have again in the resurrection. It is a Avell-known 
feet, that our mortal body is constantly changing, 
and yet it remains unchanged all the time. The 
same night in which my mother fell asleep in Jesus, 
she put her arms around my neck, and kissed me. 
She thought she embraced the same body that she 
rocked in the cradle forty years before, and I think 
so too; and yet it was not the same. 

Ydi believe — you can not help believing — that 
your presenl body is the same that it was years ago; 
and ye1 it is qo1 the same. It is not the same in size, 
nor the same in .substance, nor the same in appear- 
ance; and those who knew you only in the days of 

' I Cor. xv. 23. = John xx. 27. 



260 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

your youth would be unable to recognize you now; 
but you have never doubted your own personal iden- 
tity, and you never will, neither in this world nor 
in that which is to come. 

We have often thought that the constant reneAving 
of "our earthly house of this tabernacle" 1 was so 
ordered, that in the resurrection every man may have 
those particles of matter which once belonged to him, 
or which belonged to him at any time during his 
sojourn here. Every person may then have enough 
for himself; and if he has lived many years, he will 
have more than enough, and will never miss those 
parts of his former self which may have been taken 
to build the tabernacle of his neighbor. 

But, fearing that we may provoke you to say, 
" Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words with- 
out knowledge," 2 we will pass, at once, from the per- 
plexing philosophy of the resurrection, and rest our 
minds, and strengthen our faith, in the plain and pos- 
itive declarations of the holy Scriptures. I believe 
all that God hath spoken about this great and glori- 
ous mystery of the resurrection of the body. I love 
to believe that death is dead, and that even the black 
ashes of the sepulchre shall one day be clothed with 
celestial beauty, by the mighty power of my Lord Je- 
sus, "Who shall change our vile body, that it may be 
fashioned like unto His glorious body." 3 

In the cloudy and dark day of bereavement, when 
the warmest love is spilled like water on the ground, 
and the living heart is buried in the grave, there 
i II Cor. v. 1. z Job xssviii. 2. 3 PhiL iii. 21. 



THE HAPPY MOURNERS. 26l 

is nothing half so comforting. ."Weeping, mourning, 
and lamentation may be the portion of their cup, who 
are in any darkness or any doubt about the destiny 
of their departed friends: " But I would not have you 
to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are 
asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have 
no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose 
again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will 
God bring with Him. Wherefore comfort one an- 
other with these words." 1 

Meanwhile, the bodies of our beloved dead shall 
rest in peace. The grave is not a gloomy prison 
house, since Jesus has lain there; but a quiet habi- 
tation, a peaceful resting-place; and the only place 
of perfect rest in all the world. To the Saviour it 
Avas a place of sweet repose. AH His life long, He 
was i; aman of sorrows and acquainted with grief." 2 
His true bod}*, having been made "in the likeness of 
sinful flesh," 3 w^as just as susceptible to pain as our 
own, and was touched with the feeling of every sinless 
infirmity. He suffered hunger and thirst, and was 
often overworked and weary, and felt the need of 
rest and sleep as much as wc ever do. From the 
beginning to the end of His life upon earth, He was 
poorer than the poorest of His people; He was poorer 
than the poorest of His creatures: "The foxes have 
holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Sot 
of man hath not where to lay His head."* 

Besides, during the years of His public ministry 

' I These, iv. 13, li, 18. « Isa. liii. 3. 

3 Horn. viii. 3. < Mat. viii. 20. 



262 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

He was persecuted; and those whom He came to 
bless were seeking- to kill Him ; and at last they ac- 
complished their wicked design, by subjecting Him to 
the most tormenting cruelty that was ever devised. 
They bound His hands; they buffeted Him; they 
scourged Him; they smote Him with their hands; 
they crowned His head with thorns; they smote Him 
with a reed ; He gave His " back to the smiters," and 
His "cheeks to them that plucked off the hair"; 1 
" His visage was so marred more than any man, and 
His form more than the sons of men." 2 They com- 
pelled Him to carry His own cross up the hill of 
Calvary, when He was almost too weak to walk; 
and, then and there, they nailed His naked body 
to the tree, driving the spikes through His tender 
hands and feet; and, in His dying, agonizing thirst, 
"they gave Him vinegar to drink mingled with gall." 3 
And after such a sorrowful life, and such a lingering, 
long-suffering death, the Lord of glory was doubt- 
less glad when He reached the grave, and laid His 
broken body down in that borrowed blessed bed! of 
peaceful rest. 

Like the Master, the servant is a man of sorrows, 
and tears may be his meat day and night without 
ceasing; all the way from the cradle to the coffin, he 
may be passing under a cloud, in which the star of 
hope shines but dimly, and across which the bow of 
promise seldom stretches ; he may be the holiest saint 
in all the world, but this will not exempt him from 
much tribulation. It was the man after God's own 
i Isa. 1. 6. 2 Isa. hi. 14. 3 Mat. xxvii. 34. 



THE HAPPY MOURNERS. 263 

heart who said: "My life is spent with grief, and my 
years with sighing." 1 

Our heavenly Father had one Son without sin ; but 
He never had any son or daughter without sorrow; 
and the happiest man is not always happy: "Man 
that is born of a woman is of few days and full of 
trouble." 2 And this trouble commences early in life, 
and continues late. The very first cry of the new- 
born babe is a ciy of pain, as if it feels and fears 
the evils of its lot, and the dark shadow of the 
future is already resting on its spirit. As it grows 
older, its sorrows increase, and the last cry, like the 
first, is a cry of pain, often mingled with pleasure, 
because the weary, weeping earth-way is, coming to 
an end: "A good name is better than precious oint- 
ment; and the day of death than the day of one's 
birth." 3 

To make us pure and holy, and prepare us for 
heaven, we may be cast into the refining lire of a 
pining sickness, and kept there on the bed of lan- 
guishing till life itself loses all its charms and be- 
comes the chief calamity : " So am I made to possess 
months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed 
to me. When I lie down, I say, When shall I arise, 
and the night be gone? and I am full of tossings to 
and fro unto the dawning of the day. When I say, 
My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my 
complaint: then thou scarest me with dreams, and 
terrifiest me through visions: so that my soul choos- 
eth strangling and death rather than my life. I 
1 Pa. xxxi. 10. 2 j b xiv. 1. » Eccl. vii. 1. 



264 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

loathe it ; I would not live alway : let me alone ; foi 
my days are vanity." 1 

And when the last enemy comes to deliver the suf- 
fering saint out of all his distresses, there is a wel- 
come ready for him. With gladness and rejoicing, 
the missionary angel lifts the loved one into the Sa- 
viour's arms, where he falls asleep as in a mother's 
gentle bosom: "For so He giveth His beloved sleep," 2 
and in their sleep He gives them sweet repose. See 
what a change is there ! The wearied feet have 
reached their journey's end; the tossing arms are 
still; the working hands are crossed upon a peaceful 
breast; the restless head reposes on a painless pillow; 
the waking eyes are closed; and the laboring heart 
has ceased to beat. The features, too, have lost every 
expression of anxiety, and present only the appear- 
ance of perfect heavenly rest. 

And when we look at such a blessed change as 
this, is it not joyful to know that the weary, worn- 
out tabernacle is taken down at last and laid away 
in its calm retreat. Its toils are all ended; its tears 
are all shed; its troubles are all past: "And I heard 
a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed 
are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: 
Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their 
labors; and their works do follow them." 3 Yes, and 
I heard another voice from heaven saying, concerning 
the grave: " There the wicked cease from troubling; 
and there the weary be at rest." 4 

' Job vii. 3, 4, 13-16. s Ps. cxxvii. 2. 

s Rev. xiv. 13. * Job iii. 17. 



THE HAPPY MOURNERS. 26$ 

And, better still than all beside, eveiy golden street 
of the New Jerusalem begins in the grave : " Oh that 
thou wouldst hide me in the grave, that thou wouldst 
keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou 
wouldst appoint me a set time, and remember me ! 
If a man die, shall he live again ? all the days of my 
appointed time will I wait, till my change come. 
Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt 
have a desire to the work of thine hands." 1 "Thou 
wilt show me the path of life : in thy presence is ful- 
ness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for 
evermore." 2 

The spirits of our departed Christian friends are 
gone to God. Just as He was expiring on the cross, 
Jesus said, " Father, into thy hands I commend my 
spirit: and having said thus He gave up the ghost." 3 
And, though He was buried immediately, before His 
body was laid in Joseph's sepulchre, His soul was 
safe in His Father's house. And the same is true of 
every saint: before the body is buried in the grave, 
the soul has reached the realms of glory. We leave 
nothing in the tomb, but the earthly house; its noble 
inhabitant is not there, and never will be there, till 
the morning of the first resurrection. The house left 
desolate will be dissolved and return to its original 
dust; but the soul was never dust and never will be 
dust: it never dies, it can not die. It came direct 
from heaven, and as soon as it escapes from its shift- 
ing shelter tent, it flies away to its native laud: 

1 Job xiv. 13-15. * Ps. xvi. 11. 

3 Luke xxiii. 4G. 



266 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

" Willing rather to be absent from the body, and to 
be present with the Lord." ' 

The body is a material thing; we see it, and feel it, 
and follow it to the place of peace, and bury it out of 
sight, and mark the sacred spot with marble. But 
who can see or feel or follow the soul as it soars away 
on its immortal wings to God who gave it? And yet 
how natural it is for us to ask, Where has the spirit 
gone? It was here a while ago, but it is not here 
now. Where is it ? 

41 My thoughts pursue it where it flies, 
And trace its wondrous way ! " 

If the sons of the prophets spent "three days" 2 in 
searching for their master Elijah, after he went to 
heaven, and committed no sin, if the holy women 
spoken of in the text went unto the sepulchre looking 
for the body of their Saviour, and were blessed in so 
doing, then, surely, we may inquire reverently con- 
cerning the soul when separated from its tabernacle, 
saying, Where is it, and what is its experience ? 

In the Westminster Catechism, these questions are 
answered in part, in these well-chosen words: "The 
souls of believers are at their death made perfect in 
holiness, and do immediately pass into glory: and 
their bodies, being still united to Christ, do rest in 
their graves till the resurrection." 

As believers in Christ, we are better off than we 
sometimes think we are, for we have two homes: one 
of them is in this world, the other is in the world to 
1 II Cor. v. 8. " II Kings ii. 17. 



THE HAPPY MOURNERS. 267 

come ; one is " our earthly house of this tabernacle," 
the other is "a house not made with hands, eternal in 
the heavens;" 1 and that change which we call death 
is an immediate transition from the one to the other; 
and the last is better than the first, and more to be 
desired. "Therefore we are always confident, know- 
ing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are 
absent from the Lord : for we walk by faith ; not by 
sight: we are confident I say, and willing rather to 
be absent from the body, and to be present with the 
Lord." 2 

When Stephen was stoned, and driven so roughly 
from his earthly house to his happiest home on high, 
he " looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the 
glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand 
of God," 3 and prayed, saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my 
spirit;" 4 as if he supposed that when his body "fell 
asleep," his soul would pass into the presence of his 
Saviour; and I think it did. "I sleep but my heart 
waketh." 5 

But by far the best evidence of the truth of this 
comforting thought, is found in the language of the 
dying Saviour, addressed to the penitent praying thief, 
vim was (lying at His side: "Verily I say unto thee, 
To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise."' Not 

' II Cor. v. 1. 

* "Being always confident and knowing that whilst we are in our 
home in the body we are away from our home in the Lord, for we 
walk by faith not by sight— we are still confident, and well content, 
lather to go from oar home in the body and to come to our homo 
in the Lord" (II Cor. v. G, 7, 8).— Dean Alfobd's Translation. 

» Acts vii. 55. * Acts vii. 59. 6 Cant. v. 2. « Luke xxiii. 43. 



268 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

after the resurrection, nor to-morrow, but, "To-day 
shalt thou be with me in Paradise." As soon as the 
brutal soldiers had broken his bones, he went from 
the cross to the crown, and walked with Jesus into 
His Father's house of many mansions. 

What the glory is into which the Christian is re- 
ceived at death, Ave can not tell. Paul could not, 
though he had seen it all. He was "caught up to 
the third heaven;" he went about the streets of the 
Lamb-lit city, and along the paths of the life-watered 
Paradise; he stood upon the mount of God; he saw 
what no mortal eyes ever saw before, the thrones and 
principalities and powers of heaven, and the glory of 
them all; and when he returned to the earth, he was 
perfectly silent concerning the matter for more than 
fourteen years ; and then, when he attempted to put 
the glory on his parchments, he failed, of course ; and 
the pen fell from his fingers, for the words which he 
heard in heaven were "not lawful for a man to utter." 1 

The trouble is, that in the time to mourn, we think 
too much about the grave and its gloom; and too 
little about the gain and the glory of the departed 
one, who has passed into the immediate presence of 
Christ, and is in the enjoyment of the beatific vision. 
We think the loved one is lost, and laid in the grave, 
Avhen he is neither lost nor lying there, but saved and 
sanctified and glorified and singing the new song in 
the new city. 

Yes, I speak it to our shame, it is mainly because 
we are so slow of heart to believe all that our heav- 
i II Cor. xii. 4. 



THE HAPPY MOURNERS. 269 

enly Father hath told us in His word concerning our 
departed Christian friends, that there is so little sweet- 
ness in the cup of bereavement. We think only of 
our great loss; of our desolate home; and the very 
"crown of life" 1 is eclipsed by the coffin, and the 
glory excelling grows dim in the shadow of death. 
We look down too much into our broken hearts, 
when we ought to look up to heaven at the heart 
which, though silent here, is bounding there with 
joys that may not be expressed. We fix our eyes 
only on the earthward side of the sepulchre, and are 
blinded by its blackness; but if Ave would look only 
at its heavenward side, as we should, we would be 
blinded with its brightness. If we could go a little 
way with the departing spirit ; if we could cross the 
dark river; if we could go half way over; if we could 
hear the "chariot of fire and horses of fire" 2 coming 
down on the other side; if we could see the legions 
of angels gathering there to be its convoy home; if 
we could run up with joy the shining way, and see 
the near and distant hills of the better country, all 
crowned with eternal glory, — we would lay aside 
every sign of mourning, and Avipe all our tears away; 
and when the dear, dead dust is buried out of sight, 
we would depart "from the sepulchre with fear and 
great joy." 

A minister, Avhose house was situated on the west 

bank <>r a beautiful river, was called to part Avith 

one of iiis children, Avho went to reside on the other 

shore; and a lew months afterwards, he Avas called to 

1 Rev. ii. 10. 2 II Kings ii. 11. 



270 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

part with another of his children, who went over the 
dark river of death to dwell in the green fields of 
Paradise. When the burial service was almost over, 
he rose up beside the coffin, and said to his friends 
and neighbors: "Often as I have stood on the borders 
of this stream, and looked over to the fair fields on 
the other shore, I have felt but little interest in the 
people or the place in full view before me. The river 
separates me from them, and my thoughts and affec- 
tions were here. But a few months ago, one of my 
children moved across to the other side, and took up 
his residence there. Since that time, my heart has 
been there also. In the morning when I rise and 
look out toward the east, I think of my child who 
is over there ; and again and again through the day 
I think of him; and the other side of the river is 
always in my thoughts with the child who has gone 
there to dwell. And now, since another of my chil- 
dren has crossed the river of death, and has gone to 
dwell on the other side of life, my heart is drawn 
out towards heaven, as it was never drawn before. 
I supposed that heaven was dear to me; that my 
Father was there, and my friends were there, and 
that I had a great interest in heaven; but I had no 
child there; now I have; and I never think, and 
never shall think of heaven, but with the memory of 
that dear child who is to be among its inhabitants 
forever : ' For where your treasure is, there will your 
heart be also.' " 

When our friends are gone, our communion is with 
them still. All the while that the Saviour's body was 



THE HAPPY MOURNERS. 2J\ 

in the grave and His soul was in heaven, He was 
doubtless thinking about His dear disciples ; and we 
know, for certain, that they were thinking about 
Him ; He was in all their thoughts and on all their 
tongues; for their communications were "Concerning 
Jesus of Nazareth." ' And some of them were pre- 
paring " sweet spices " 2 for His embalmment. And, 
blessed be His glorious name forever, He was so 
anxious to come and see them personally, and com- 
fort them, that He shortened the "three days," of 
His appointed sojoimi in the grave, into six and 
thirty hours. 

I believe in the communion of saints. This article 
of the ci-eed is not limited; and I believe in it, in all 
its length and breadth and height and depth. Bow- 
land Hill was not beside himself, when, after pray- 
ing at the bedside of a departing saint, he rose from 
his knees, and sent his best love to the four great 
Johns, — John the Baptist, John the Divine, John 
Knox, and John Bunyan. He believed in the com- 
munion of saints; and there is something interest- 
ing in the way in which he proved the simplicity and 
the sincerity of his faith, by sending his best love to 
some of them in heaven whom he had never seen on 
earth. 

The early Christians also believed in this precious 
truth ; for it was their beautiful custom to observe 
the anniversary of the death of their departed friends, 
by celebrating the Lord's Supper on that day, in the 
consciousness of an inseparable communion and fel- 
1 Luke xxiv. 19. * Mark xvi. 1. 



272 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

lowship with those who were gone before into the 
better country; an offering also was always laid on 
the altar in their name, as if they were still living. 

The Moravian Brethren have a special "Easter 
morning Litany," which is used only once a year, 
when they commemorate the Saviour's resurrection. 
Very early in the morning of that day, of all the year 
the best, they gather together in the church; and, as 
it begins to dawn, led by their minister they march 
out into " God's acre," singing as they go. When 
they reach the holy ground, standing there among 
the graves of their departed brethren, with whom 
they are still united, the pastor reads the names of 
those who fell asleep during the last twelve months, 
and then the congregation of the living, in the pres- 
ence of the congregation of the dead, proceed with 
the Easter Sunday service, believing that the two 
congregations but one communion make. 1 

And in some of our own Reformed Churches, every 
time the Holy Supper is administered, first of all men- 
tion is made of the names of those who have been 
called to the " marriage supper of the Lamb," 2 since 
the last communion ; then the feast begins and con- 
tinues, as if the absent ones were present. And who 

1 "We poor sinners pray, hear us, gracious Lord and God: and 
keep us in everlasting fellowship with our brethren, and with our 
sisters, who have entered into the joy of the Lord: also with the 
servants and handmaids of our church, whom thou hast called home 
in the past year, and with the whole church triumphant; and let us 
rest together in thy presence from our labors. Amen." — Extract 
from the Easter Morning Litany. 

2 Eev. xix. 9. 



THE HAPPY MOURNERS. 273 

can say they are not present ? " Seeing- we also are 
compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses." 1 
We believe that our sainted friends are often pres- 
ent with us; we believe they are always present with 
us, in the house and by the way, when sleeping and 
waking. We have been speaking of them as if they 
were dead, and distant from us ; but the blessed truth 
is, that they are neither dead, nor distant from us. 
They went away to come nearer to us ; and they are 
never absent from our homes and hearts. We can 
not hear the sweet music of their noiseless feet; we 
can not see the viewless features of their familiar 
faces ; we can not take them gently by their heavenly 
hands, as we would often like to do; nevertheless, 
they are always round about us, and have an influ- 
ence over us for good. "Ye are come unto Mount 
Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly 
Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, 
to the general assembly and church of the first-born, 
which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge 
of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and 
to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to 
the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things 
than that of Abel." 2 These wonderful words are all 
about heaven; and among the heavenly things to 
which wi' are already come are these: "The spirits 
of just men made perfect and to Jesus." We are 
come to our friends in heaven in the same sense 
in which we are come to Jesus in heaven. We are 
come to Jesus because He is come to us, and He is 
1 Beb, xii. 1. * Heb. xii. 22-24. 

18 



274 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

always present with us according to His parting 
promise: "Lo I am with you alway." 1 And so we 
are come to our friends in heaven, because they are 
come to us; and, like the Master, they will never 
leave us nor forsake us : and we should be pardoned 
for thinking sometimes that they are our guardian 
angels. 

And not only so, but we are taught to believe that 
our heavenly friends are exceedingly interested in 
every thing on the earth pertaining to the kingdom 
of Christ. From the isle of Patmos the beloved disci- 
ple was permitted to look into heaven, and there he 
"Saw under the altar the souls of them that were 
slain for the word of God, and for the testimony 
which they held: and they cried with a loud voice, 
saying, how long, Lord, holy and true dost thou 
not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell 
on the earth ? " 2 

And when Jehoram reigned in Judah, " There came 
a writing to him from Elijah the prophet," 3 reproving 
him and predicting the " great sickness," with which 
he would be smitten, for his great transgressions. 
But Jehoram did not reign in Judah, till after the 
death of Jehoshaphat his father, who was living and 
reigning, at the time that "Elijah Avent up by a 
whirlwind into heaven." 4 The inevitable conclusion 
therefore is, that this letter came to the king in Jeru- 
salem, several years after its author had gone home 
to his Father's house. Whether it was written by 

i Mat. xxviii. 20. 2 Rev. vi. 9, 10. 

3 II Chron. xxi. 12. < II Kings ii. 11. 



THE HAPPY MOURNERS. 2J$ 

the prophet before or after his translation is not ma- 
terial to our present purpose. "We admire the silence 
of Scripture as well as its simplicity, and would not 
venture any vain speculations concerning a matter 
which is so mysterious. The letter itself shows its 
author's absorbing interest in the kingdom of God 
upon the earth, long after he had left the earth. 
That majestic moral hero, who had been for so many 
years "The chariot of Israel and the horsemen there- 
of," 1 could never forget the cause which was so near 
and dear to him. In this respect, his writing is very 
like those seven letters in the book of Revelation, 
which our Lord Jesus sent to "the seven churches" 2 
of Asia, by the hand of His servant John. 

And, even if this writing of Elijah came from 
heaven, as we love to believe, it is not half so 
strange, nor so significant, as that the prophet him- 
self should come from heaven, as he actually did, when 
Christ was transfigured. There, on the " high moun- 
tain apart," 3 we have the most beautiful illustration 
of the communion of saints. Moses and Elijah were 
there from the church in heaven; Peter and James 
and John were there from the church on earth ; and 
Jesus was there, "The King in His beauty,"'' and He 
was all the theme of His earthly friends and their 
heavenly guests: "And when they had lifted up their 
. they saw no man save Jesus only." s 

When the fishermen of the Adriatic Sea are out of 
sight of land in their little boats, casting in the net, 

1 U Kings ii. 12. 2 Rev. i. 4. * Mark ix. 2. 

* Enl xxxiii. 17. » Mat. xvii. 8. 



276 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

their loved and loving; wives come down to the beach 
every evening; at sunset, and standing- together there, 
they sing the first verse of some familiar hymn. 
Then they stop and listen, and in a moment they 
hear the second verse, as it is sung to the same tune 
by their gallant husbands far out at sea. And so they 
continue singing, verse about, till their evening hymn 
is finished; and all are happy, because they know that 
all is well. 

And standing down here on the shores of time, we 
have often thought that we could hear the music of 
the redeemed in glory; and among them there are 
voices, that we almost think we know, chanting some 
familiar tune which comes stealing down in charm- 
ing cadences from beyond the sky. Hark ! we can 
almost hear some of the loved ones singing now, in 
notes that are divine: "Worthy is the Lamb that was 
slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and 
strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing." 1 And 
our hearts should be ready to respond, most heartily, 
to their heavenly hosannas: "Unto Him that loved 
us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, 
and hath made us kings and priests unto God and 
His Father; to Him be glory and dominion forever 
and ever." 2 

"Let saints below His praises sing, 
With those to glory gone; 
For all the servants of our King, 
In heaven and earth are one." 

We shall join our blessed friends again in the celes- 

1 Rev. v. 12. 2 Kev. i. 5, 6. 



THE HAPPY MOURNERS. 2JJ 

tial country. "When the Saviour was parting with 
His disciples, they were very sorrowful ; and He com- 
forted them with the sweet assimtnce that they should 
follow Him in a little while: "Whither I go, thou 
canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me 
afterwards." x He comforted them with the sweeter 
assurance that He would come after them : " I go to 
prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a 
place for you, I will come again and receive you unto 
myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." 2 

The grief of those who have no Saviour is very 
great when they go to the funeral of their friends, 
because they bury them in a joyless tomb, having no 
hope of another and a better life beyond. Death sep- 
arates them forever. They part at the grave for the 
last time, and the last of any thing is sad. But Chris- 
tians never part for the last time ; and Avhen they part 
at the sepulchre, it is only for a little season; as when 
we part in the evening to meet again the next morn- 
ing. The gospel gives us a sure and certain hope, 
not only of the immortality of the soul, but of the 
resurrection of the body and a happy reunion with 
those who are not lost, but gone before. It was 
pleasant to meet with them here in our father's house, 
with the sad parting in prospect; but it will be much 
more pleasant to meet them in our heavenly Father's 
house, where we shall be ever with one another, and 
ever with the Lord. 

But shall friends recognize one another in the res- 
urrection ? I answer, yes; and it seems strange to 
1 John xiii. 3G. * John xiv. 2, 3. 



278 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

me, that there should be any doubt or debate about 
this question, which is so plain that it almost answers 
itself. When his dear little child melted from his 
embrace, David said, "I shall go to him"; 1 and when 
he fell asleep and went to him, did David know his 
child in heaven ? I think he did. "When Christ was 
comforting "Mary and her sister Martha" in their be- 
reavement, He said, "Thy brother shall rise again"; 3 
and when he came up out of the grave, did those hap- 
py mourners know their only brother ? I think they 
did. At the gate of Nain, when the Saviour raised 
the widow's son, the record says, " He delivered him 
to his mother"; 3 did that rejoicing mother know her 
only son ? did she not ? And when the Master Him- 
self came forth from the sepulchre, He was still "this 
same Jesus"; Mary recognized His voice, Thomas 
proved His personal identity by the print of the nails, 
and all the disciples knew Him and rejoiced: "Then 
were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord."* 

And in the likeness of His own glorious body, His 
saints shall rise again from the dead; and in the vari- 
ous ways in which they know one another now, they 
shall know one another hereafter. Grace strengthens 
the tender ties of nature, and glory will make them 
stronger still ; and all those endearing friendships 
which are formed sitting at the feet of Jesus shall 
be everlasting: "Charity never faileth." 5 

How many pleasant family gatherings there will 

i II Sam. xii. 23. 2 John xi. 23. 

s Luke vii. 15. * John xx. 20. 

6 I Cor. xiii. 8. 



THE HAPPY MOURNERS. 279 

be some day soon in our heavenly Father's house of 
" many mansions ! " Husbands and wives, parents 
and children, brothers and sisters, shall meet again 
in heaven : they shall meet to part no more. In 
love's own country, and in the same love-built man- 
sion, they shall meet again, and be bound together 
there in bonds that are better than those of angel- 
hood. Behold, how this blessed hope makes a cor- 
dial of our sorrows ! changing the bitterest worm- 
wood into the best wine, " that goeth down sweetly, 
causing the lips of those that are asleep to speak." 1 
See how it soothes the pain of parting; how it tri- 
umphs over death; and how it gathers like a golden 
halo round the grave itself, taking away its victory, 
and changing that gloomiest cavern of earth into the 
very vestibule of glory. 

But we may even hope to meet our glorified friends 
before we get to heaven. In going to California by 
the Pacific Railroad, when the train reaches a certain 
point beyond the Rocky Mountains, the conductor 
- tli rough the cars, taking the name, the resi- 
dence, and the destination of every passenger. At 
tli<' next station, he gives the list to the telegraphic 
operator, who transmits it to the city of San Fran- 
cisco; and the oexl day it is published in all the lead- 
ing papers of the Golden State. In a little while, 
fathers and mothers and brothers and sisters begin to 
gather at the termination of the road, and some of 
waiting ones are so impatient to greet their 
coming kindred, that they take the first outward- 

' Cant. vii. 9. 



28o BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

bound train and meet them beyond the border of 
their better country, and with gladness and rejoicing 
they bring them to their own home. 

Now Ave know for certain that there is a constant 
communication between this world and that which is 
to come. When " our father Jacob " slept at Bethel, 
he saw " a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of 
it reached to heaven, and behold the angels of God 
ascending and descending on it." 1 Jesus is greater 
than "our father Jacob," and He says, "There is joy 
in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner 
that repenteth." 2 We know, also, that the angels are 
our servants: "Are they not all ministering spirits, 
sent forth to minister for them avIio shall be heirs of 
salvation?" 3 And not only so, but when the time of 
our departure is at hand, some of them will be wait- 
ing to bear us away to the land of pure delight : " It 
came to pass that the beggar died, and was carried 
by the angels into Abraham's bosom." 4 

And shall not the spirits of our sainted friends be 
as much interested in us as the stranger angels ? Oh 
yes, they will ! And if these things are so, what a 
glorious welcome there will be for us on the other 
side. God be thanked, we are on our journey home ; 
some of us are almost there, and many of us have 
measured more than half our days: Ave have turned 
the summit of the Rocky Mountains; the mountains 
of Bether are behind us, and the express train is 
going faster noAv than ever before, because Ave are on 

i Gen. xxviii. 12. 2 Luke xv. 10. 

a Heb. i. 14. * Luke xvi. 22. 



THE HAPPY MOURNERS. 28 1 



so magnificent that the meanest thing is gold. But 
before we get there, in the border land of Beulah, 
where the "shining ones" do walk, we may expect to 
see our friends who will come to meet us and greet 
us with kisses, and hail us to our eternal home : " For 
so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abun- 
dantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and 
Saviour Jesus Christ." 1 

Such were some of my meditations, when coming 
away from the grave of a friend just departed. There 
was something splendid and sublime in the manner 
of his translation. One Saturday evening he returned 
from a long journey, and the next day, which was 
the Lord's day, he silently stepped into the "chariot 
of fire," and went away in rapture to the skies: his 
sudden death was sudden glory. He was an aged 
man; the days of the years of his pilgrimage were 
fourscore and fourteen years; he was "an old disci- 
ple," 2 too, for he had followed the Master threescore 
years and ten. He was a man greatly beloved; and 
when I saw something floating back from the shining 
way he went, I prayed that his mantle might fall on 
me; for he was my father, and I was his Benjamin: 
" Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my 
last end be like his."* 

In many of these precious truths, so plainly ex- 
pressed, Some of you may have no special interest; 
but there is one thought suggested by the text which 
comes home to every heart with a power peculiarly 
• II Pot. i. 11. * Acts xxi. 1G. 3 Num. xxiii. 10. 



282 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

its own. There is "a time to die:" 1 a time for you 
to die, and a place for you to be buried. There will 
be kind arms to hold you up in the last struggle, and 
dear hands to close your eyes, and loving friends to 
follow you to the tomb. But how will they depart 
thence? Will there be any thing in your past life, 
any thing in your dying experience, any thing in 
your future prospects, which will turn their sorrow 
into joy? What will they be thinking about, Avhen 
they go to your funeral? and what will they be talk- 
ing about? Will it be about their great loss, and 
your greater gain ? Or will they turn away, slowly, 
silently, and sadly, from your grave, refusing to be 
comforted, because you died "having no hope." 2 

But, blessed be our long-suffering God for His spar- 
ing mercy, your time to die is not yet fully come, and 
you may "acquaint now thyself with Him, and be at 
peace." 3 Yes, you may repent of sin; you may be- 
lieve in Jesus; you may set your house in order. 
And, dearly beloved and longed-for, by all that is 
beautiful in heaven, and by all that is dreadful in 
hell, I beseech you to do these things, at once, with 
all your mind and might ; and then, though you die, 
you shall live again; your redeemed body shall rest 
in the grave; your soul shall immediately pass into 
glory ; your communion shall still continue with your 
friends on the earth; and they, hoping to meet you 
in heaven, and perhaps before they get there, will 
depart from your sepulchre with great joy. 

' Eccl. iii. 2. 2 Eph. ii. 12. => j b xxii. 21. 



WAITING AND WORKING. 



CHAPTER XI. 

" Peter said unto Him, Lord, why can not I follow thee now?' 1 
John xiii. 37. 

WHEN a man is drawing nigh to death, he does 
not so greatly care for others as for himself. 
The thoughts of his mind are mainly turned to his 
own personal preparation for the closing scene of this 
life, and the strange land beyond the grave to which 
he is going. But in regard of the man Christ Jesus, 
just the contrary was the case. "When He was com- 
ing near to the end of His earthly journey, and the 
last night had darkened round Him, He cared more 
for His chosen friends than for Himself. He was in 
the upper room, and His soul was exceeding sorrow- 
ful ; nor is it any wonder, for He was sitting down 
under the shadow of the cup of trembling, the crown 
of thorns, and the cursed tree; but, forgetful of Him- 
Bel£ He commenced at once to comfort His disciples. 
Strange as it may seem, the same night in which 
Jesus was betrayed, He was more concerned for His 
followers than for Himself. He prayed for them, that 
they might be sustained, through all their fiery trials, 
and kept from the evil that is in the world. Mildly, 
and in the most gentle manner, He communicated to 
them the sad tidings of His sufferings. His dreadful 



286 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

death was softened down into a departure; for He 
spake of it, as if He was going away on a journey : 
"Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye 
shall seek me ; and as I said unto the Jews, Whither 
I go, ye can not come; so now I say to you." 1 And 
not apprehending the real meaning of the Master, 
"Simon Peter said unto Him, Lord, whither goest 
thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst 
not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me after- 
wards. Peter said unto Him, Lord, why can not I 
follow thee now ? " 2 Peter was most truly and most 
tenderly attached to the Saviour, and greatly desired 
to go with Him, though he did not know exactly 
where the Master was going; but though it were to 
the grave, he declared his readiness to die with Him : 
"I will lay down my life for thy sake." 

From this moment, the disciples must have man- 
ifested some uneasiness concerning the things that 
were coming to pass. Perhaps in the near future 
they caught glimpses of the cross, and their dear 
Saviour stretched upon it, and in the distant future 
some crosses for themselves. And what they could 
not see in store for themselves, their Master saw; He 
saw it all; the end from the beginning. He saw a 
sword lor James, and a cross for Peter, and another 
cross for Andrew, Peter's brother, and Patmos for the 
disciple whom He loved, and who was then leaning 
" on His breast at supper." 3 And yet, knowing the 
sorrows that were in store for them, He tells them 
plainly that they can not follow Him now. But Peter 
i John xiii. 33. 2 John xiii. 36, 37. 3 John xxi. 20. 



'waiting and working. 2 Sy 

•wondered why not now? If I am to follow thee after- 
wards, "Why can not I follow thee now?" 

This same question has suggested itself to the minds 
of more men than the apostle Peter. The young con- 
vert, who has recently put on the harness, is often 
impatient to quit the field of conflict, having "respect 
unto the recompense of the reward." 1 The Christian 
pilgrim, as he climbs the hill of difficulty, being weary 
and foot-sore, now and then leans upon the top of 
his staff, and lifts a wishful eye to the celestial gate. 
And the aged saint, who is almost there, finds him- 
self praying sometimes like one of the Fathers, and 
saying, "Lord, since no man can see thy face and 
live, let me die that I may see thy face." 

The same sorrows through which the apostles 
passed are in store for us: the same in kind, if 
not in degree; and as they multiply and still in- 
crease, we may wonder many a time why we are 
not permitted to go home to our " Mother dear Jeru- 
salem." As tribulation abounds, our desire to get 
quit of it abounds also; and why not now? When 
the nest is stirred up and torn to fragments, we feel 
just like flying away to be at rest in heaven; and 
why not now ? Does it give our dearest Father 
great delight to see His children suffering here ? 
Does He love to keep us in the flaming furnace? 
Not so! our Father God takes no pleasure in our 
pains, and can not feed His glory on our groans. 
Our sorrows are His sorrows: He sympathizes with 
us; He is touched with a feeling of our infirmities; 
' Ueb. xi. 23. 



288 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

and as we look up through our tears to the throne of 
His grace, our eye meets no other glance than that 
of tenderness and love. But, if this be so, when we 
are so heart-broken here, and so homesick for heaven, 
why not send down the " chariot of fire and horses 
of fire " 1 and take us home ? " Lord, why can not I 
follow thee now ? " 

We propose to answer this question in part; and 
as we pass along gathering up some of the reasons 
why we can not be translated to heaven now, Ave 
trust you will be convinced that in this long waiting 
there is much wisdom. 

And, in the beginning, we want you to notice, that 
we are not taken to heaven as soon as we would like 
to go, that there may be time enough to test our Chris- 
tian experience. We cheerfully confess that a man 
might receive pardon and justification and sanctifi- 
cation the same moment, and should he die the next, 
there would be no doubt about his destiny. Pass- 
ing "through the valley of the shadow of death," 2 he 
might be thoroughly assured that he was sustained 
and comforted by the rod and the staif of the good 
Shepherd. His personal experience, and the witness 
of the Spirit, would convince him of the blessed immor- 
tality to which he was going. But while there could 
be no question in his own mind, as to whether it would 
be well with him in the world to come, there might be 
many doubts in the minds of those who still survive. 

We have only one such case recorded in the Script- 
ures, — the case of the dying thief. The day of his 
1 II Kings ii. 11. 2 Ps. xxiii. 4. 



WAITING AND WORKING. 289 

conversion was the day of bis coronation. Christ 
crucified was once preached by a crucified Christ, 
and that same evening the Preacher and the hearer 
walked together in Paradise. There is this one case, 
that dying men need not despair. There is this one 
case only, that living men may not presume. The 
Bible, our own observation, and the observation of 
others, constrain us to believe that death-bed repent- 
ances are rarely, and only in exceptional instances, 
genuine. 

Some persons have been particular enough to keep 
a record of such cases. One of these remarks, that of 
more than a hundred such conversions, which came 
under his own observation, the subjects of which 
were subsequently restored to health, only three gave 
evidence of true conversion. Another says, that he 
ministered to more than three hundred inquirers who 
repented in prospect of death; but when they were 
recovered from their sicknesses, only ten of them 
gave any evidence that they had been born again. 
Our own experience is this: having ministered to 
several who seemed to be hopefully converted, on 
what tiny thought might be their dying bed, when 
lieal tli and strength returned, we were looking for 
the "fruits worthy of repentance," 1 but we found 
bone. 'IK'- last statu of every one of them Avas worse 
than the first They took their second lease of lif', 
ami s)vut it, in turning away from that dear Friend 

who healed all their diseases. 

And now, since these things are so, and they can 

1 Luke iii. 8. 
19 



29O BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

not be denied, is it not better that we should be de- 
tained here long enough, at least, to test our religious 
experience ? In this most important matter, we may- 
be deceiving ourselves, and it were far better to abide 
here till we are undeceived, than to go into eternity 
with a lie in our right hand; expecting to be re- 
ceived up into heaven, when our own place is in hell. 
And not ourselves only, we may deceive others. Oar 
friends and neighbors may think that we are Chris- 
tians when we are not; and they may be contented 
to be as good as we are; and thus we may let our 
false light shine, like the wreckers, to lure poor souls 
down to destruction. 

You remember how the children of Israel were kept 
wandering round about in the wilderness, and how 
long they wandered, and the reason of it all; it was 
to humble them, and prove them, and to know what 
was in their hearts; and when they were tried and 
proved, the wheat was to the chaff, as two to six 
hundred thousand. And God's people need proving 
now, as much as in the days of old; and so, some- 
times we are chosen in the furnace of affliction, and 
tried every moment of our lives. 

When you plant a tree, you may not be able to tell 
what kind of a tree it will be. You may not be able 
to tell much about it the next month, nor the next 
year; but you let it alone, and time will tell: "Every 
good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt 
tree bringeth forth evil fruit. Wherefore by their 
fruits ye shall know them." 1 When the bell-founder 
i Mat. vii. 17, 20. 



WAITING AND WORKING. 29 1 

casts a bell, he does not elevate it straightway to the 
steeple; but, first of all, it is raised upon a little 
standard and tried: tried by ringing, and by blows 
on every side; and if a single flaw be found in it, it 
is cast over; and when it has been proved, and found 
perfect in every respect, it may be placed in the tower 
to call the congregation together, and to "proclaim 
liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabi- 
tants thereof." 1 

The Christian is never taken to heaven till he is 
proved ; and it is better that others, as Avell as him- 
self, should be convinced of his godly sincerity. They 
are not all sheep who are in sheep's clothing; and 
what seems to be religion is sometimes the reverse : 
" Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall 
enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth 
the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will 
say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not proph- 
esied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out 
devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: 
depart from me, ye that work iniquity." 2 

We want yon to notice, in the next place, that we 
are no1 taken to heaven as soon as we would like to 
go, in order that by tarrying here our Christian char- 
acter may be developed Progress in the divine life 
is a rule to which there is no exception. When wc 
are born into this world, we arc babes, and it" wc 
would be perfect men, we must grow. In like man- 
ner, when we arc born again from above, we are 
1 Lev. xiv. 10. I Mat. vii. 21, 23. 



292 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

babes in Christ, and if Ave would ever come "unto a 
perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the 
fulness of Christ," 1 we must grow. "We must have 
" the sincere milk of the word," 2 and the sweet manna, 
and the strong meat, that we may grow thereby; and 
this growth is gradual. In the natural world there 
are many beautiful illustrations of this blessed truth 
which were intended to aid our understanding: "the 
"earth helped the woman." 3 

The night does not rush into the day all at once. 
The morning comes before the day; it comes little by 
little. While it is yet dark, a single streak of light 
is seen shooting up above the eastern horizon, like 
a spike of glory. It is a messenger ray from "the 
bright and morning star"; what the prophet calls, 
"The morning spread upon the mountains"; 4 the day 
is dawning. Then the sun himself begins to unvail 
his shining face, to lighten the firmament above, and 
brighten the landscape below: "Which is as a bride- 
groom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a 
strong man to run a race";* rising higher and higher, 
and shining brighter and brighter, till the perfect day is 
come. What a beautiful commentary Ave have here on 
that scripture which is the inspired image of the Chris- 
tian life: "The path of the just is as the shining light, 
that shineth more and more unto the perfect day." 

You Avill see another illustration of this truth, by a 
glance at the seasons. The one glides gradually and 
gracefully into the other. The spring is only winter 

i Eph. iv. 13. 2 I Pet. ii. 2. 3 Rev. xii. 16. 

* Joel ii. 2. 6 p s . xi x . 5. e p rov . iv. 18. 



WAITING AND WORKING. 293 

melted, and when it has warmed the ground, and 
opened the buds, and burst all the flowers into full 
bloom, it passes gently over into the summer ; as the 
youth grows into manhood. And then again, by 
slow degrees, the singing summer advances into au- 
tumn, which is only spring grown older; and when 
you look at the fields of yellow grain waving for the 
sickle, if only you will connect the end with the 
beginning, you will see the Saviours own illustration 
of the thought on which we are dwelling now: "And 
He said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should 
cast seed in the ground; and should sleep, and rise 
night and day, and the seed should spring and grow 
up, he knoweth not how; first the blade, then the 
ear, after that the full corn in the ear." ' 

Such is the development of Christian character: 
"First the blade;" such a tiny thing that a little 
child could crush it. But see, it grows: it grows by 
day; it grows while we are sleeping; till by and by 
the Made is finished quite, and now the work of 
spring is done. "Then the ear;" and that is the 
work of summer. With such good help from heaven, 
as dewy nights, and sunny days, and copious showers 
of rain, flu- summer carries on the work which spring 
commenced; and in due time the ear is rounded, but 
not ripened. "After that the full corn in the ear;" 
and that is the work of autumn — to fill up and finish 
the ear, and make it ripe, as well as round, and ready 
for the reaper. 

Now all this takes place in the experience of every 
' Mark iv. 26, 27, 28. 



294 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

Christian man. Yon never saw an ear of corn spring- 
ing suddenly up out of the ground, and you never 
will. The first thing is the blade, then the ear, then 
the fall corn in the ear. You never saw a little child 
leaping from its mother's arms into manhood, and 
you never will. It is first the babe, then the youth, 
then the man. And such is the work of grace; and 
so the character of the Christian is gradually devel- 
oped, until at last he is complete in Christ. Then, 
but not till then, will he be taken home. 

And if any of you are wondering why you are not 
permitted to go up out of all tribulation to-day; if 
you are saying, like David in the Psalm, "Oh that I 
had wings like a dove! for then Avould I fly away, 
and be at rest;" or like Peter in the text, "Lord, why 
can not I follow thee now?" I will tell you one 
reason why: because you are not ripe and ready to 
be reaped. The husbandman never puts in the sickle 
till the fields are white. It would be folly, for which 
there is no name, to fill the barn with soft, spring 
blades and summer ears. Only the full corn is fit for 
the garner. Even so, only the complete Christian is 
ready to be reaped. And if you are so homesick, and 
so exceedingly anxious to be gone, you ought to be 
more diligent in getting ready to go. " Ye are God's 
husbandry," 1 and it is your present business to "grow 
in grace" 2 and have "your fruit unto holiness;" 3 and 
"when the fruit is brought forth, immediately He 
putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come." 4 

' I Cor. iii. 9. z II Pet. in. 18. 

a Horn, vi. 22, * Mark iv. 29. 



WAITING AND WORKING. 295 

It may be worth while to remark, farther, that 
Christians are not permitted to follow the Saviour to 
heaven now, because their presence here is needed 
for the preservation of the world. Though wicked 
men do not regard it so, yet, it is a great blessing 
to live in a Christian land; to be a member of a 
Christian family; and to have Christian friends and 
neighbors. It is a blessing to hear the sound of the 
church-going bell, though it be never heeded. It is 
something to dwell in a city of churches, and have 
our houses under the shadow of their heavenward 
pointing spires. Property is more valuable in this or 
in any city, because of the Christians that are in it; 
and wherever they abound, life becomes more secure, 
an interest in the public welfare increases, and society 
takes on a higher, and a better character: "Happy is 
that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that 
people, whose God is the Lord." 1 

Worldly men may be unwilling to acknowledge 
their great indebtedness to the presence of God's peo- 
ple. Perhaps they do not see it; but they might see 
it. Unconsciously, however, do they act it, in choos- 
ing lather godly neighbors than ungodly, and doing 
business with good men rather than with bad. When 
the merchant asked the lad what he had in his bun- 
dle, and learned that there was a Bible there, he 
hired him. When Jacob got tired of his father-in- 
law's meanness, and desired to leave his service, that 
h" might provide for his own house also, " Laban 
said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favor in 
> Ps. cxliv. 15. 



296 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

thine eyes, tarry: for I have learned by experience 
that the Lord hath blessed me for thy sake." x This 
heathen man saw that his worldly goods had greatly 
increased since Jacob's coming, and through Jacob's 
care, and, better still, for Jacob's sake. Contrary to 
the general rule, the older was blessed for the sake 
of the younger, the father-in-law for the sake of his 
son-in-law. When the flood came, the Lord saved 
Noah's family for Noah's sake. We have no reason 
to believe that Noah's wife, or his sons, or his sons' 
wives were righteous. The husband and father found 
favor in the sight of God, and for his sake, the Lord 
said unto him, " Come thou and all thy house into 
the ark ; for thee have I seen righteous before me in 
this generation." 2 

And not only are children frequently blessed and 
beloved for the sake of their fathers; but, what is 
more, judgments and divine indignation are often 
withheld or averted from the wicked for the sake 
of the righteous. When Solomon went astray, the 
threatened punishment of his great transgressions was 
postponed till after his death, for the sake of his dear 
dead father: "I will surely rend the kingdom from 
thee, and will give it to thy servant. Notwithstand- 
ing, in thy days I will not do it for David thy father's 
sake; but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son." 3 
When Hezekiah was sick, and the holy city was be- 
leaguered by the Assyrian army, and its fall seemed 
only a question of time, the good king was raised up 
from the bed on which he Avas dying, fifteen years 
1 Gen xxx. 27. * Gen. vii. 1. 3 I Kings xi. 11, 12. 



WAITING AND WORKING. 297 

were added to his life, Jerusalem was defended and 
delivered, and the investing army was destroyed in 
one night, by one angel — and all "for my servant 
David's sake." 1 For the sake of Moses, the stubborn- 
ness of the eovenant people was often overlooked, and 
the long-suffering mercy of the Lord was multiplied 
unto them. For the sake of ten righteous men, God 
would have spared the cities of the plain: "He said 
I will not destroy it for ten's sake." 2 And when Lot 
lingered, the kind angels took him by the hand, and 
his wife, and his daughters, "pulling them out of the 
fire;" 3 and the Lord of angels, pointing to the city 
of refuge, said to him: "Haste thee, escape thither; 
for I can not do any thing till thou be come thither." 4 
What wonderful words are these ! The angel of the 
covenant, the mighty God, is speaking here, and say- 
ing to his servant, " I can not do any thing till thou 
be come thither." 

But this is not the only case in which the hands of 
Omnipotence have been bound by the presence of His 
people. We are bold to say, that in every age the 
unrighteous owe the righteous a debt of obligation 
which can not be reckoned up; and it is mainly be- 
cause the required ten are still found in the cities of 
the plain, that the fiery showers are suspended, and 
time is given the impenitent to escape the impending 
doom. 

There are some infidels who are sensible men, and 
help to support our religion for the sake of its tem- 

' II Kings xx. G. « Gen. xviii. 32. 

' Judo 23. * Gen. xix. 22. 



298 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

poral blessings. There are others who are so blinded 
by the god of this world that they can not see any 
good resulting from the glorious gospel ; and groping 
about, like Samson, for the pillars of our house, which 
is from heaven, they would pull down the building 
of God, and so bring swift destruction on themselves. 

The saints are " the light of the world " ; 1 and like 
the blotting out of the sun to material things would 
be their extinction to all moral life. The saints are 
"the salt of the earth";* and are kept here for its 
preservation from putrefaction: let them all be re- 
moved, and it would soon become a festering, un- 
clean mass; a rotten world, reeking with its own 
corruption, and a very stench in Jehovah's nostrils. 
" As a teil-tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in 
them, when they cast their leaves ; so the holy seed 
shall be the substance thereof." 3 

It should be observed once more, that the people 
of God are not permitted to go home to heaven im- 
mediately, because the "restitution of all things" 4 
depends in part on their personal instrumentality. 
The Bible teaches us to believe that a glorious des- 
tiny is waiting for this world. Its stained and time- 
worn vesture is to be renewed, and glad and smiling, 
as when first it came fresh from its Maker's hand, it 
will go forth again singing among the stars. The 
thorns, the thistles, the trail of the serpent, and every 
trace of sin is to be swept clean away, " and there 
shall be no more curse." 5 "Instead of the thorn shall 

1 Mat. v. 14. 2 Mat. v. 13. 3 Isa. vi. 13. 

4 Acts iii. 21. 5 Kev. xxii. 3. 



WAITING AND WORKING. 299 

come up the fir-tree, and instead of the brier shall 
come up the myrtle-tree;" 1 "and the desert shall re- 
joice and blossom as the rose, it shall blossom abun- 
dantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing." 2 

Poverty, oppression, and suffering of every kind 
shall be found and felt and feared no more. In all 
the world there shall be none that lack ; every yoke 
shall be broken, and all the people shall be perfectly 
happy: " For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and 
as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it 
to spring forth ; so the Lord God will cause righteous- 
ness and praise to spring forth before all nations." 3 

The pestilence that walketh in darkness, and the 
destruction that wasteth at noonday, making every 
house an hospital, and every garden a graveyard, 
shall be banished from the globe forever: "And 
the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people 
that dwell therein shrill be forgiven their iniquity."* 
"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; 
and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor 
crying, neither shall there be any more pain : for the 
former things are passed away." 6 

Wars shall cease, and there shall be "abundance 
of peace so long as the moon endureth." 6 The roll 
of the mustering drum shall never be heard in our 
streets, nor the sound of the bugle on the field of 
battle; for the harmony of the universal brotherhood 
shall never be broken by an appeal to arms; and 
all tin' useless slaughter weapons shall be hammered 

1 Isa. lv. 13. -i Isa. xxxv. 1, 2. » Isa. lxi. 11. 

* Isa. xxxiii. 21. ■ Rev. xxi. 4. ° Ps. lxxii. 7. 



300 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

into implements of husbandry : "They shall beat their 
swords into ploughshares, and their spears into prim- 
ing-hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against na- 
tion, neither shall they learn war any more." 1 

A brighter sun shall shine in our sky by day, and a 
brighter moon by night: "Moreover the light of the 
moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light 
of the sun shall be sevenfold as the light of seven 
days:" 2 "and there shall be no night there." 3 The 
years shall be all one pentecost; the days all one 
Sabbath; and the inhabitants of the earth all one 
family: "And the ransomed of the Lord shall return 
and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon 
their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and 
sorrow and sighing shall flee away." 4 Upon every 
brow is to be inscribed, "holiness to the Lord;" and 
rising from every heart to every tongue the exulting 
song, " Glory to God in the highest, and on earth 
peace, good will toward men." B 

All material agents, all worldly wisdom, every en- 
terprise and effort now limited or inspired by time 
or sense, will then become ennobled, sanctified, and 
pointed with a holy aim and end. All thought, all 
emotion, every exercise of will, now so feeble and so 
misdirected in their energy, emerging then from film 
and cloud, to purer and clearer realms, will seek no 
sublimer theme of contemplation than "the King in 
His beauty," and find no higher field of effort than 
in giving expression to His laws. For the hastening 

1 Isa. ii. 4. 2 Isa. xxx. 26. 3 R ev . xxii. 5. 

4 Isa. xxxv. 10. s Luke ii. 14. c i sa . xxxiii. 17. 



WAITING AND WORKING. 3OI 

on, elaboration, and fulfilment of this promised time, 
every true Christian is a worker together with Christ. 

We have seen how God's people are kept here, not 
only for their own proving, but for their oavii devel- 
opment and perfection in holiness; and rising from 
personal considerations to those that concern a world, 
we have seen them, also, the conservators of soci- 
ety, and the averters of divine indignation from the 
-wicked. We behold them now fulfilling a more glo- 
rious mission, and abiding here not merely as passive 
means to keep the world from waxing worse, but as 
active, consecrated, and efficient instruments to make 
it better. 

Earnest effort finds in this grand object a field 
broad enough for all its energy; high intellect, an 
aim worthy of all its faculties; and the longing heart, 
a satisfaction for its holiest desires. It. is the sublime 
purpose of the Christian's life and labor, as it will be 
the glory of his waiting, to make this bad world bet- 
ter, and help to bring it, like a weary, long- tossed 
vessel, freighted with its Avealth of immortal souls, 
all safely home to heaven. 

Full well we know that storms and angry waves, 
and the lightning's glare must lie between; but the 
end is peace, and the haven to be reached a quiet 
water locked in by the blessed and the better land. 
Was it not a cowardly thing for the crew of the ship 
that was Wearing Paul a prisoner to Rome, to let 
dowo the life-boat, intending to steal away to shore? 
Above all others, their presence was needed. Had 
the prisoners or passengers escaped, it would have 



302 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

mattered little; but the sailors were indispensable to 
the working of the ship. The saints are the shipmen 
of the world. And shall they, fearful of the rocks 
and wishing for the day, be permitted to escape to 
heaven ? Who then would be saved in the world- 
wreck that would follow? Rather should they be 
contented bravely to abide their time, so long as 
there is any hope to save all those who sail with 
them. 

In the restoration of the world to God, we have 
spoken of His people remaining here as the agents 
for the work. An office and an aim so glorious imply 
continuous life-long effort, and a patient faith endur- 
ing to the end. It is, indeed, the nature of truth to 
be the stern antagonist of error, and of Christian prin- 
ciple to wage holy war with sin, whenever and where- 
ever they meet; but living tongues must wing the 
words through which error wounded dies, and living 
men put on and wear the Christian panoply, if ever 
the final victory over sin be gained. 

Not saints in heaven, but Christians here on earth, 
are to decide the battle. The church, the sacramental 
host, is the army of occupation. Her every banner 
flings out its royal declaration, "The earth is the 
Lord's;" and the throbbing purpose of every heart 
and life is to make this practically and universally 
true. Every day her converts are being multiplied 
and her advance reported. But the conquest is not 
yet complete, and so long as the sound of conflict 
stirs the air, or the front of the enemy looms up so 
buld and threatening as now, who of us so base as to 



WAITING AND WORKING. 303 

ask relief from duty, or turn his back upon the foe ? 
No matter how the battle may go, Ave ought to endure 
hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. We may 
be beaten for the time being. The world and the 
wicked one may be too many and too strong for us; 
but though we fall we shall conquer if we are fight- 
ing when we fall. 

At the battle of "Waterloo, the "old guard," the 
tried veterans of many a well-fought field, the pride 
and hope of the French army, bad made their last 
charge in vain. The little remnant that survived the 
shock, although they saw the day was gone, disdained 
to fly, and would not yield. "The old guard dies," 
they said, "but never surrenders;" and closing up 
their thinned and broken ranks, they pressed to death, 
with the same firm front with which a hundred times 
before they had moved to victory. 

Such is the soldier spirit that is wanted in the 
church, that the world may be conquered for Christ, 
and given to Him for His inheritance. And there 
never was a time when Christians were so much 
needed as now. Whether we look to the north or 
south or cast or west, the fields are white already 
for the harvest. Every wave that breaks upon our 
Atlantic or Pacific coast is a cry, like that which Paul 
heard in a vision of the night, saying, "Come over 
into .Macedonia and help us." 1 

There are voices from India and China and Asia 
and Africa, and from all the islands of the sea. There 
are voices all around us here, that rise from our own 
1 Acts sv i. 9. 



304 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

streets, and even from our very homes. Not less 
imploring is the cry that early youth or childhood 
makes, whether it comes from the nooks of vice, 
which our own civilized land contains, or from some 
distant jungle of the plain. Not. less loud is the 
voice with which Christianity pleads for benighted 
man, whether it finds him in our own busy streets, 
bowing all his soul to mammon and all the passion 
idols of the day, or kneeling yonder in some dim old 
pagan temple before a painted god. 

And now, dearly beloved, since there is so much 
for you to do, in making this bad world better, ought 
you not to be willing to wait patiently, and work dil- 
igently, while you wait, bearing "the burden and heat 
of the day ? " 1 You may be heavy laden with labor 
and sorrow ; but when weary in well-doing, and im- 
patient for the rest and the reward, let me ask you 
to take Paul for your pattern, when he said : " I am 
in a strait betwixt two." 2 The balance is poised be- 
tween the two worlds — earth and heaven. At first 
it seems to go down on heaven's side, and it does: 
"having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; 
which is far better." But, see ! see ! it comes bound- 
ing back again, like the scale on which some light 
weight has suddenly fallen, and the glory excelling 
is found wanting in comparison of labor for Christ ! 
"Nevertheless" — what a noble nevertheless! — "Never- 
theless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you." 
And in all the history of this world, there is nothing 
so grand, there is nothing so glorious, there is nothing 
' Mat. xx. 12. s Phil. i. 23. 



WAITING AND WORKING. 305 

so Godlike, as that hard-working, heart-broken, and 
homesick man with his tired feet on the threshold, 
and his trembling hand on the door of heaven, let- 
ting go and turning away to fling himself into the 
thickest of the fight, to "spend and be spent ,?1 in his 
Master's service. 

Toil on, then, O new-born soul, impatient for thy 
joy! each day adds strength to holy purpose; gives 
growth to grace, and helps to round thy early promise 
into rich and ripe development. 

Toil on, weary, way-worn sufferer! bear up, O 
crushed and sorrowing heart! thy bed of pain, thy 
silent heroism, thy patient Christian walk, thy resig- 
nation, and thy grief, glow all unconsciously to thee 
with winning radiance, and fill the world with life's 
sweetest fragrance — as bruised flowers with perfume 
do the air. 

sailor saint, leave not the ship amid the storm ! 
soldier saint, stay not thy hand till the going down 
of the sun ! Yet a little longer, and the peaceful shore 
will rise above the troubled waters. Yet a little longer, 
and the battle will be ended. Then, sinking on the 
field, and knowing that the sound that rusheth by is 
the sound of victory, you can d}nng say again like 
Paul: "I have fought a good fight, I have finished 
my course, 1 have kept the faith: henceforth there is 
laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the 
Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: 
and not to me only, but unto all them also that love 
His appearing." 2 

' K Cor. xii. 1& * II Tim. iv. 7, 8. 

20 



306 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

Lord, our Lord, we would not forget that we are 
still in the wilderness, and exposed to dangers of the 
wilderness. Let it please thee to hear us in the day 
of trouble, and keep us as the apple of thine eye, hide 
us under the shadow of thy wings. We Avill rejoice 
ill thy salvation, and in the name of our God Ave will 
set up our banners. The name of the God of Jacob 
defend us, and give us the victory over all our ene- 
mies. Make us more thankful for the precious privi- 
lege of working for Jesus, and working with Jesus, 
and waiting for Jesus, more than they that watch 
for the morning. Gentlest, sweetest, kindest Saviour, 
grant us grace and strength eveiy clay to live and 
labor for the advancement of thy cause and the com- 
ing of thy kingdom; and by doing every thing in thy 
dear name and for thy dear glory may our hardest 
work become our holiest worship. Evermore make 
us joyful in thee; may thy statutes be our songs in the 
house of our pilgrimage, and in the multitude of our 
thoughts within us let thy comforts delight our souls. 
Command thy loving-kindness in the daytime, and in 
the night thy song shall be with us: and thus Avait- 
ing and Avorking and praying and praising Ave will 
greet thee at thy coming and cast all our crowns, in 
one glittering heap, at thy blessed feet, saying, Not 
unto us, Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name giA T e 
glory, for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake. 



GLORY IN TRIBULATION. 



CHAPTER XII. 

"And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also; knowing that 
tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; a?id experience, 
hope; and hope maketh not asliamed; because the love of God is shed 
abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto tis." — Rom. 
v. 3> 4, 5- 

TO be able to glory in tribulation is one of the pre- 
cious results of justification : "Therefore being 
justified by faith, Ave have peace with God through 
our Lord Jesus Christ; by whom also we have access 
by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice 
in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but 
we glory in tribulations also." 1 That is, not only 
have we peace with God and introduction into His 
favor, which causes joy in hope of future blessedness, 
"but we glory in tribulations also." 

What the apostle affirms here, concerning himself 

and his fellow Christians, is abundantly proved by 

the history of their lives. When false witnesses were 

giving crashing evidence against him, and his nn- 

Jnsl judges were gnashing on him with their teeth, 

Stephen was happy. The holy gladness in his heart 

i out smiling through the open window of his 

countenance: "And all that sat in the council, look- 

adfastly on him, saw his face as it had been 

» Rom. v. 1, 2, 3. 



3 1 BE A UTY FOR A SUES. 

the face of an angel;'' 1 and though he was stoned to 
death, "he fell asleep." 2 When Peter and John were 
sorely beaten for preaching Jesus, "they departed 
from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they 
were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name." 3 
When he was securely kept in prison, and. the last 
night of his life had come, as all supposed, Peter 
feared no evil; for the same night he sweetly slept 
" between two soldiers, bound with two chains." * 
When they were robbed of all their property, and 
reduced to the most abject poverty, the poor Hebrews 
were rich in joy, as one of them testifies in these 
words: "For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, 
and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, know- 
ing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and 
an enduring substance." 5 

But of all the early Christians, who gloried in trib- 
ulation, Paul appears peerless and pre-eminent. In 
this great attainment, as in almost every other, he 
stands alone and without a rival; the sublimest of the 
sons of men, the saintliest of the sons of God. When 
with Silas, his true yoke-fellow and companion in 
tribulation, he was cast into "the inner prison," at 
Philippi, and his feet were made "fast in the stocks," 
his heart was leaping for joy: "At midnight Paid and 
Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the 
prisoners heard them." G When he was parting with 
the elders of Ephesus, in his beautifully touching fare- 
well sermon he says: "And now, behold, I go bound in 

1 Acts vi. 15. 2 Acts vii. GO. 3 Acts v. 41. 

« Acts xii. 6. « Heb. x. 34. « Acts xvi. 25. 



GL OR Y IN TRIB ULA TION. 3 1 1 

the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that 
shall befall me there: save that the Holy Ghost wit- 
nesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions 
abide me. But none of these things move me, neither 
count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might fin- 
ish my course with joy." 1 When he came on his jour- 
ney as far as Ceesarea, one of the prophets " named 
Agabus" took the apostle's girdle and bound his own 
hands and feet, and said: "Thus saith the Holy Ghost, 
So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that 
owneth this girdle." 2 Immediately, his friends were 
concerned for his personal safety, and besought him 
with blinding tears not to go into certain danger. 
"Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and 
to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound 
only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the 
Lord Jesus." 3 When there was given unto him the 
"thorn in the flesh," and sufficient grace to bear the 
bnffetinge of Satan's messenger, he seems actually at 
;i Lose to find language strong enough to express his 
: " Most gladly therefore will I rather glory 
in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest 
upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in 
reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses 
for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I 
strong." * 

These first Christians were indeed "a peculiar 
people." 1 "We are 1n>ul>led on every side, yet not 
distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 

» Acts xx. 22, 23, 24. 2 Acts xxi. 11. 3 Acts xxi. 13. 
* II Cor. xii. 9, 10. * I Pet. ii. 0. 



312 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

persecuted, but not forsaken; cast clown, but not 
destroyed." * They were a paradoxical people. To 
them pain was pleasure, loss was gain, poverty was 
wealth, reproach was honor, down was up, and death 
was life: "As unknown, and yet Avell known; as 
dying, and behold we live; as chastened, and not 
killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, 
yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet 
possessing all things." 3 They gloried in tribulations, 
not because of any present pleasure which these af- 
forded, but chiefly for the "peaceable fruit of right- 
eousness" 3 which they afterwards yielded: "knowing 
that tribulation worketh patience ; and patience, ex- 
perience; and experience, hope." 

"Tribulation worketh patience." By patience we 
mean that calmness of mind which suffers without 
murmuring, and that constancy of heart which en- 
dures without discontent. Here, and elsewhere, it 
is spoken of as the first ripe fruit which Christians 
gather from the tree of tribulation. The troubles 
that are exciting, annoying, and irritating to other 
men, are subduing, quieting, and calming to them. 
Those fiery trials, which toss other men's minds into 
a tempest, fall upon them like oil on the fretful sea. 
The yoke that is galling to those who know not 
whose it is, nor what it is for, is easy to their neck. 
The disappointment that makes other men obstinate, 
angry, and rebellious, wakes up their joy, and glad- 
ness, and glory : " knowing that tribulation worketh 
patience." 

i II Cor. iv. 8, 9. 2 II Cor. vi. 9, 10. 3 Heb. xii. 11. 



GLORY IN TRIBULATION. 313 

Frequently they feel their need of this heavenly 
grace, and the black messenger who brings it to 
them is kindly welcomed. He may be rude in speech, 
and rough in manners, but he brings a blessing from 
above, and shall be entertained like an angel. 

"Ye have heard of the patience of Job;" 1 but you 
never would have heard of it, if he had not been so 
severely tried. He was the most patient of saints, 
because he was the most afflicted of saints. His pa- 
tience was produced by the Sabeans, the Chaldeans, 
and his own wife also. It was developed by the 
whirlwind and sickness and Satan himself. And 
when all was lost, and nothing but a loathsome life 
was left, and that was hanging on a slender thread, 
then his patience had her perfect work. A& his ca- 
lamities increased, his calmness increased ; and he 
was more constant at the end than at the beginning 
of his sorrows: "Though He slay me, yet will I trust 
in Ilini/' 2 "My brethren, count it all joy when ye 
fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the 
trying of your faith worketh patience." 3 

•■And patience, experience." Experience is a com- 
prehensive term, and, as commonly used, it expresses 
that knowledge which we gain by experiment. It 
means trial, and includes also in its signification the 
results of trial, such as evidence and approbation. 

It is therefore a proving experience. All are not 

Christians who are called by that name; and what 

Beema to be religion is often the reverse. We may 

be members of the church and not members of Christ. 

1 Jamos v. 11. •> Job xiii. 15. 3 James i. 2, 3. 



314 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

Judas was a member of the church. The mere fact 
that we are in the fold is not conclusive evidence 
that we are of it. The good Shepherd, who " calleth 
His own sheep by name," ' tells us of some who are 
"in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening 
Avolves." 2 We may have the fairest exterior, and the 
good opinion of all who look only on the outside; 
but the Omniscient One, who searches the heart, may 
liken us to those "whited sepulchres, which indeed 
appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead 
men's bones, and of all uncleanness." 3 Nay, more, 
we may pray fervently, and preach earnestly, and 
do many wonderful works; but, even these are not 
infallible signs of sincerity: "Not every one that 
saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the king- 
dom of heaven." 4 

Since, then, these things are so, we need proving 
very much, and there is nothing like tribulation to 
put our piety to the test. When the rain descends, 
and the floods come, and the winds blow and beat 
upon our house, we soon find out whether it is founded 
on a solid rock, or on the shifting sand. When we 
are thrust into the crucible, and the fire is kindled 
and kept burning more and more, till we are melted 
down, the discovery is made whether we are genuine. 
And in anticipation of the experiment, blessed is the 
man who can say, with the witness of the Spirit 
within him : " When He hath tried me, I shall come 
forth as gold." 5 

i John x. 3. 2 Mat. vii. 15. 3 Mat. xxiii. 27. 

* Mat. vii. 21. 6 Job xxiii. 10. 



GL OR Y IN TRIE ULA TION. 3 I 5 

It is also a purifying experience. We need more 
than proving. We need, as well, to be separated 
from much that is worthless and vile ; and the orig- 
inal meaning of tribulation, to which so much is at- 
tributed in the text, will serve to show you both the 
manner and the motive of our afflictions. As we 
generally use it, tribulation is a bitter term, and its 
ordinary acceptation is only anguish; but there is a 
hidden beauty under its dark disguise, and in its 
heart there is a hive of honey. It is derived from 
a Latin word which means to thresh. Tribulation, 
therefore, being interpreted, signifies the threshing 
of the Christian; and points out the process by which 
he is purified for heaven. 

" Ye are God's husbandry." x You know what that 
means. You are the trees of His planting, the vines 
of His trimming, and the wheat of His growing; and 
111-' are some of the implements with which He cul- 
tivates His "heritage" 2 — the plough, the pruning- 
hook, and the harrow; the sickle, the flail, and the 
fan. Here, I see God in the ploughman going forth 
to plough. He breaks up the fallow ground of the 
heart : "The ploughers ploughed upon my back: they 
made long their furrows." 3 And there, I see Him 
again in the sower going forth to sow; scattering the 
good Beed mi tin- Boil softened by sorrow: "He that 
sowc lh the good seed is the Son of man." 4 And yon- 
der, once more, 1 sic. Him in the reaper going forth 
to reap; putting in the .sickh- when the harvest is 

' I Cor. iii. 9. 2 1 p e t. v. 3. 

3 Fft exxix. 3. * Mat. xiii. 37. 



316 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

ripe, and coming- again "with rejoicing, bringing His 
sheaves with Him;" 1 which sheaves we are. He casts 
us down, all unbound, on the barn floor of the sick- 
bed ; and, making bare His arms, like a laboring man, 
and bending- over us to His work, He beats us with 
His flail: now with His flail of weakness, and again 
with His flail of painfulness; now softly, and then 
heavily, as the case may require; intent only upon 
beating off and beating out the pure grain of Chris- 
tian character; separating the wheat from the stalks 
on which it grew, and the husks in which it was 
hidden; and beating us, "if need be," 2 through many 
tiresome days and "wearisome nights." 3 And as we 
lie there "full of tossings to and fro," all the time 
understanding the nature and purpose of the process, 
we repine not, but rejoice rather, because our "Father 
is the husbandman," 4 and so He prepareth us for the 
heavenly garner. 

It is, further, a perfecting experience. There are 
degrees of purity, and several successive stages in 
the development of the divine life; and He who hath 
begun a good work in us will carry it on to comple- 
tion. He will perfect that which concerneth us, and 
sanctify us wholly, that He may present us " faultless 
before the pi'esence of His glory with exceeding joy," s 
"not having- spot or wrinkle or any such thing-." 
And, in order to make His work quite perfect, the 
heavenly husbandman has recourse to another instru- 

i Ps. cxxvi. 6. 2 I Pet. i. 6. 

3 Job vii. 3. 4 John xv. 1. 

s Jude 24 c Epb.. v. 27. 



GLORY IN TRIBULATION. 317 

merit beside the flail: "Whose fan is in His hand, 
and He will thoroughly purge His floor." 1 

"When the wheat is threshed, it is not fit for the 
garner. Though separated from the worthless straw, 
there yet remains the still more worthless chaff; and 
it must needs pass through another purifying process, 
in its progress to perfection. It must be winnowed, 
which was done in old time, as the word itself im- 
ports, by taking it on a large, fan-shaped shovel, and 
throwing it up across the wind. To facilitate the 
fanning, the threshing-floor was generally located on 
high ground, and was always constructed in the form 
of a circle, and was left open all round to the wind. 
As soon as the work of the flail was finished, the straw 
was carefully removed from the floor, and the work 
of the fan was commenced, and continued till all the 
chaff was carried away, and nothing but clean wheat 
was left. 

So, by continued tribulation, our heavenly Father 
completes our sanctification. When He is done 
threshing, He lays aside His flail and takes us on 
His fan, and tosses us up and down against the wind 
of adversity. Up and down, not to hurt us, but to 
make OS holy. Up and down, till He hath cleansed 
us "from all iniquity." And, blessed be His glorious 
name forever, •• lie doth not afflict willingly," 2 never 
"from His heart"; 1 but always and only from His 
hand: '-Whose fan is in His hand."' 

It is all the while a pleasant experience. Strange 

1 Mat. iii. 12. 2 Lam. iii. 33. 

3 Lam. iii. 33 (marginal reading). « Mat. iii. 12. 



3lS BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

as it may seem, there is light in darkness, there is joy 
in sorrow, and there is peace in trouble. In every 
shady place, the Saviour's presence is brighter than 
the double light of noon ; in every grief, His grace is 
magnified beyond the purest joys of earth, and His 
love always causeth us to triumph over every trial. 
" Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all com- 
fort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that 
Ave may be able to comfort them which are in any 
trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are 
comforted of God. For as the sufferings of Christ 
abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by 
Christ." 1 

The happiest persons we have ever known were 
those who suffered the most. The threshing-floor was 
their pulpit, from which they preached the sweetest 
sermons about "the unsearchable riches of Christ," 2 
and "the exceeding riches of His grace"; 3 it was 
their Pisgah, from which they saw the land of praises, 
and rejoiced as if they were already there, singing, in 
notes that are divine: " Unto Him that loved us, and 
washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath 
made us kings and priests unto God and His Father: 
to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever."* 

According to the geography of grace, Patmos was 
nearer to Paradise than the upper room in Jerusalem ; 
and the beloved disciple was dearer to Jesus there 
than when he "leaned on His breast at supper." 5 

i II Cor. 1, 3-5. 2 Eph. iii. 8. s Eph. ii. 7. 

4 Rev. i. 5, 6. 6 John xxi. 20. 



GL OR Y IN TRIE ULA TION. 3 1 9 

And there is a special blessing for those who read 
his last book which was written there, under the 
"shadow of heavenly things": 1 "Blessed is he that 
readeth, and they that hear the words of this proph- 
ecy, and keep those things which are written therein: 
for the time is at hand." 2 

When Rutherford was silenced and sent into ban- 
ishment for loving Jesus, and serving Him for love, 
he was the happiest man in all the world; and many 
of his " Immortal Letters " Avere written Avith joy's 
own ink "from Christ's Palace in Aberdeen." As 
soon as he was pointed out, and spoken of, as " the 
banished minister," he accepted the insulting epithet, 
and bound it like a "garland" around his head, and 
gloried in it. So beautiful were the ashes of reproach 
in his eyes, that they blossomed all over with "the 
Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the valleys." 3 And 
after he quitted "the tents of Kedar," 4 the stray ar- 
rows that he sent out from the place of his retirement 
were gathered together in the quiver of a book, which 
has held the highest place among our Christian clas- 
sics for more than two hundred years, and will con- 
1 in m- to spread abroad the sweetest fragrance of the 
swim test name till the coming of the King. 

" Bless the Lord, my soul, and forget not all 
His benefits." 1 Ilis blows are benefits; His blows 
an- blessings; it is a benediction to be beaten, to be 
braised, and to be broken with His heavenly flail: 
"Strokes from the sweet Mediator's hands are very 

' Heb. viii. 5. * Rev. i. 3. 3 Cant. ii. 1. 

« Cant. i. 5. » Pr. riii. -2. 



320 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

sweet." "Most gladly therefore Avill I rather glory 
in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest 
upon me." 

"And experience, hope." Hope is a compound word, 
and expresses a complex emotion. It is best defined 
by the two words desire and expectation. What we 
long for, and what we look for, that is hope. What 
we earnestly covet, and are confident we shall obtain, 
that is hope. It is an emotion of the mind in which 
there is no element of evil, as we can only hope for 
that which is good. It is indeed a precious treasure, 
and better worth than all the Avorld. When Alex- 
ander the Great was giving away estates and empires 
with lavish prodigality, one of his friends asked him 
what he reserved for himself, and he said, "Nothing 
but hope." And the chief secret of his success, in 
going on from conquering to conquer, till at last he 
laid the whole world at his feet, is embalmed in that 
sublime answer. Nothing but hope is hope and every 
thing. When we are poor and needy, hope is our 
very great possession ; and when our barns are burst- 
ing out with plenty, and we have every thing that 
heart can wish, it is more and better than all beside. 

But there is a better hope than that which is 
common to all mankind, and which keeps the heart 
of humanity from breaking. It is the Christian's hope 
of glory. It is born in poverty and reproach, and 
baptized with tears and flames. Patience and expe- 
rience are its foster-parents, who nourish and cherish 
the goodly child with the necessary milk and meat 
of tribulation and anguish; and when he grows up, 



GLORY IN TRIBULATION. 32 1 

be is insensible alike to the summer's heat and the 
winter's cold. He is a brother "born for adversity," 1 
the friend whom affliction brings to better view, like 
those brave ocean birds that light upon the storm- 
tossed ship when timorous wings are wending home. 
And there is a proper scripture sense in which "we 
are saved by hope." 2 

In the epistle to the Hebrews, this great grace is 
likened to an anchor: "Which hope we have as an 
anchor of the soul ; " * and the severer the storm is, 
the surer and more steadfast it holds us; and indeed 
there is no hope like hoping against hope; and, bet- 
ter still, it never disappoints those who have it: this 
"hope maketh not ashamed." Our best earthly hopes 
are often blasted in the bud; our fondest desires 
frequently fail; our long-cherished expectations are 
sometimes suddenly cut off; and we do not always 
obtain the objects on which our hearts are set. And 
even when we do, we are not satisfied. Our greatest 
expectations are our greatest disappointments; and 
when we grasp at their substance, it is only a shadow, 
and we are ashamed. 

When he had fought his last battle, and won his 
greatest victory, and gained the whole world, the 
man of Macedonia was not contented, as he thought 
he would be. That great hope that never failed him 
in his wonderful career, then, for the first time, made 
him ashamed. " He stood and measured the earth";* 
but it was not equal to his expectations, and he was 

' Prov. xvii. 17. s Rom. viii. 24. 

s Heb. vi. 19. * Hab. iii. G. 



322 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

disappointed, dissatisfied, disgusted with it, and with 
himself as well. What ! is this the little thing that 
I have lived and labored for so long? Is this shadow 
the substance of my hope ? and he wept for another 
world. 

But the Christian's hope of future blessedness shall 
never fail. In our present experience, we have " the 
earnest of our inheritance," 1 and the last fruits of the 
sweet fields beyond the swelling flood are just as sure 
as the first fruits which are already in our possession. 
Our glorious hope is not a frail thing like the spider's 
web; nor is it just like the sailor's strong anchor; for 
it is not dropped down into the troubled waters over 
which we are sailing; but, contrariwise, it is cast up- 
ward into the peaceful haven whither we are bound, 
and entering " into that within the vail," 2 it is not dis- 
turbed by the storms down here. And never will it 
disappoint us. Never disappoint us did I say ? Yes, 
it will ; but always favorably. Our highest anticipa- 
tions shall be more than realized. Our greatest ex- 
pectations shall be overmatched for once. "The sub- 
stance of things hoped for " 3 shall far exceed our hope, 
and we shall never weep for another heaven. "Now 
the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in 
believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the 
power of the Holy Ghost." 4 

The last clause of the text assigns the reason why 
our heavenly hope shall not be found delusive: "be- 
cause the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts 

> Eph. i. 14. 2 Heb. vi. 19. 

3 Heb. xi. 1. * Rom. xv. 13. 



GLORY IN TRIBULATION. 323 

by the Holy Ghost which is given unto ns." Hope, 
as well as faith, works by love. Love is the source 
of all its strength and beauty. It is also the ground 
out of which every other grace grows, and the grand 
reason why all our afflictions work together for good 
and for glory. Love is the root and the offspring of 
the same tree of tribulation. The mother and the 
children of the same sorrow. 

Patience, experience, and hope! No children ever 
bore so many features of their parents as these do of 
love. Let me call their names. Patience is enduring 
love ; experience is perfecting love ; and hope is exult- 
ing love. And all of them are better than good, be- 
cause of love ; but love alone is first and last and best 
— before all, after all, and above all. This mother is 
more to be desired than all her daughters; and as 
David said of Goliath's sword, so say I of love : 
"There is none like that; give it me." 1 Let ever- 
living, never-dying, never-failing love be mine, and 
I shall never be confounded. In the cloudy and dark 
day when I am left alone, and in "the valley of the 
shadow of death," 2 when every other hand must let 
me go, still abiding, never changing, love shall hold 
me last, keep me from falling, and make even mine 
enemies to be at peace with me. " Who shall sepa- 
rate us from the love of Christ ? shall tribulation, or 
distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or 
peril, or sword?" 3 Nay, these are but the cords of 
love by which wo an; drawn and bound more closely 
to Christ. Nay, more, they are His angels who have 
1 I Sam. xxi. '.). J Ps. xxiii. 4. 3 Rom. viii. 35. 



324 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

charge over us in all our ways, to bear us up in their 
arms: "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth 
to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?" 1 

Such are the several benefits of sorrow as they are 
delineated by the apostle, and proved also by our 
own experience. Being justified by faith, our afflic- 
tions are altogether altered. They are not what they 
seem — the frowning expressions of the divine displeas- 
ure ; but, on the contrary, they are what they seem 
not — the beneficent manifestations of the divine love. 
As the thorns which pierced the Saviour's brow were 
twisted into the shape of a crown ; so our tribulations 
are emblems of royalty, and "if we suffer, we shall 
also reign with Him." 2 " Jesus said unto them, 
Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed 
me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall 
sit in the throne of His glory, ye also shall sit upon 
twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." 3 

Not only is there a silver lining in every flitting 
cloud, but, when rightly viewed, the cloud itself is 
brighter than the bright light that is in it. If only 
we could be caught up beyond the cloud, where the 
sun is always shining, there would be no darkness in 
it at all; but only dazzling brightness and rainbow 
hues. So, when looked at in the light of heavenly 
love, our lesser troubles grow beautiful, our greatei 
ones, sublime. In the inspired inventory of our pos- 
sessions, proper mention is made of them, and they 
are by far the best of our good things. We ought to 
make them welcome when they come, and entertain 
' Heb. i. 14. * II Tim. ii. 12. < Mat. xix. 28. 



GLORY IN TRIBULATION. 325 

them kindly : " for thereby some have entertained 
angels unawares." 1 We ought to be aided by them 
rather than annoyed; and take courage from them, 
not cowardice; strength, not weakness; victory, not 
defeat. The eye quick to discern the good in the evil ; 
the mind that can distil sweetness out of the bitter; 
the heart that can rebound from the heaviest blow, — 
these are noble, beautiful, and brave : would that they 
were always ours. 

Before Ave close, come and see this stagnant pool? 
Its waters are foul and black and dead. Its surface 
is covered over with a scum of purple and yellow and 
green. It is the home and the hiding-place of name- 
less unclean and creeping things. It breathes out 
only an offensive odor, charging the atmosphere with 
positive poison ; sending sickness and death far and 
wide on the wings of the wind. But, by the silent, 
unseen, and powerful influence of the sun's rays, that 
foul water is distilled and drawn upward to the sky, 
where it is gathered into bright clouds of clean and 
pure and holy water. 

Now then for the parallel. That stagnant pool — 
that hiding-place of so many abominations — that 
mother of "the noisome pestilence," 2 is the express 
image of ourselves. In our estate of sin and misery, 
we are nothing better than the filthy water of the 
world, corrupt and corrupting all who come within 
our influence. But, see! see! "The Sun of righteous- 
ness" is rising over us "with healing in his wings," 3 
and by pouring down His purifying power upon us, 
1 Heb. xiii. 2. * Ps. xci. 3. 3 Mai. iv. 2. 



326 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

we are first transformed and then translated to join 
the " cloud of witnesses " l — that " great multitude, 
which no man could number," and of whom the elder 
said, " These are they which came out of great trib- 
ulation, and have washed their robes, and made them 
white in the blood of the Lamb." 2 

" Now the God of peace, that brought again from 
the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the 
sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 
make you perfect in every good work to do His will, 
working in you that which is well pleasing in His 
sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for- 
ever and ever. Amen." 3 

1 Heb. xii. 1. s Eev. vii. 14. 3 Heb. xiii. 20. 



THE FEARFUL THINGS WE FEAR. 



-ear none 



CHAPTER XIII. 

of those things which thou shalt suffer." — Rev. ii. IO. 



WE are so constituted by our all-wise Creator 
that we can not help looking forward to the 
future, and living much in the future. Our business, 
our plans, our pleasures, all have reference to the 
future; we think about it more than we think about 
the past; we think about it more than we think about 
the present; and not unfrequently our minds are so 
thoroughly occupied with things to come, that the 
past and the present are both quite forgotten. The 
real burdens which were laid on us yesterday and 
to-day are not half so heavy as the anticipated burden 
of to-morrow. The trials which we feel, and which 
we have felt, are light; they are less than nothing, in 
comparison of the trials which we fear. 

In every Christian heart, the past, the present, and 
the future should each have its own place. We may 
not forget the past: "God requireth that which is 
past;"' we may not neglect the present: "Son, go 
work to-day in my vineyard;" 1 we may not ignore 
the future: "How wilt thou do in the swelling of 
Jordan ? " ' 

It would be useless for \is to strive to shut out the 
future entirely from our minds, because we can not 
1 Eccl. iii. 15. » Mat. xxi. 28. 3 Jer. xii. 5. 



330 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

do so. In spite of all our bars and bolts, it will force 
its way into the holiest chamber of our hearts, and 
become our constant guest, talking all the time, and 
only about the fear of fearful things. 

And since Ave must needs give place to the future, 
we may do so and commit no sin ; we may do so and 
experience no sorrow. It is not looking into the 
future that makes us sad, but it is the way Ave look. 
It is not thinking about the future that brings us 
under condemnation, but it is the manner of our 
thoughts. As children, and heirs of God, we should 
look ever on the bright side of the future, because it 
is the right side ; and never on the dark side, because 
it is the wrong side. We may hope for future good, 
but Ave ought not to fear future eAnl : " Sufficient unto 
the day is the evil thereof." 1 

And yet, strange to say, it is the dark side of 
things to come at which some of us are always look- 
ing. We are not hoping for any good, but are fear- 
ing only evil. Our eyes are so steadfastly fixed on 
the burning, fiery furnace into Avhich Ave may be cast, 
that Ave can not see our sympathizing Saviour "walk- 
ing in the midst of the fire." 2 To ourselves, there- 
fore, and to all such timorous saints, the text is a 
timely admonition, to Avhich we should give the most 
earnest heed: "Fear none of those things which thou 
shalt suffer." 

Suffering is the lot of our inheritance: "Man is 
born unto trouble;" 3 and our few days are "full of 
trouble." We have trials in the present time, and 
i Mat. vi. 34. 2 Dan. iii. 25. 3 Job v. 7. 



THE FEARFUL THINGS WE FEAR. 33 1 

trials in prospect. This lias been so from the begin- 
ning of the world, and it will be so even unto the 
end. Concerning- the saints redeemed in glory, the 
question was asked, "What are these which are ar- 
rayed in white robes? and whence came they?" 1 
And the answer was, "These are they which came 
out of great tribulation." Concerning the saints on 
earth, it might be asked, "What are these which are 
arrayed in black robes? and where are they going?" 
And the answer could be nothing else than this, 
"These are they who are going through great trib- 
ulation home to God." There is no other road to 
heaven except "through the valley of Baca:" 2 "we 
must through much tribulation enter into the king- 
dom." 3 The way to the throne is still by the thorn; 
the way to the crown is still by the cross; the way to 
glory is still through the grave. 

"The path of sorrow, and that path alone, 
Leads to the land where sorrow is unknown." 

There are some sorrows which are personal and 
peculiar; there are others which are common to all 
mankind; and some of the things which you shall 
suffer may be briefly mentioned. 

Vmh shall Buffer sickness. It is true that some men 
are seldom sick, while others never see a healthy day; 
but tli< S e two extremes of sickness and health' are 
equal exceptions to the general rule; and, whatever 
may be your present condition, sickness in some meas- 
ure, and at some time, will surely fall to your lot. 
1 Rev. vii. 13. 2 Ps. Ixxxiv. 6. 3 Acts xiv. 22. 



332 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

There are but few persons who enjoy what is called 
perfect and uninterrupted health, and to these feAv 
sickness is certain to come soon or late; so that, even 
if you are one of these, you can not expect to be 
always the same healthy man you this day are. 
The great majority of our race are often indisposed; 
more than half of them die of divers diseases while 
they are yet young; and those who still survive are 
sometimes brought to the brink of the grave. 

Sickness is the result of sin; but yet, it does not 
follow, that those who are most frequently prostrated 
on beds of languishing are sinners above all men; 
contrariwise, and strange as it may seem, they are 
often the best of saints. It is not in the power of 
personal holiness to prevent those diseases Avhich sin 
has introduced into the minds and bodies of men. 
Of all the ancient worthies, spoken of in the Old and 
New Testaments, not one of them escaped the uni- 
versal plague; even the two who did not die were 
not exempt from bodily infirmities; for Enoch and 
Elijah never enjoyed perfect health till they went 
to heaven, where "the inhabitant shall not say, I 
am sick." 1 

Even the deepest, dearest love of our Lord Jesus is 
no security against sickness. The home of Bethany 
was a little heaven. The angels of the Lord were 
always encamped round about it, and the Lord of 
angels often lodged there. There the " Man of sor- 
rows" 2 ofttimes resorted to rest awhile: His room 
was always ready, and He was always entertained 
' Isa. xxxiii. 21 2 Isa. liii. 3. 



THE FEARFUL THINGS WE FEAR. 333 

with the most affectionate hospitality. Jesus loved 
eveiy member of that holy family: "Now Jesus loved 
Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus." * But yet, into 
that holy sanctuary, where the Saviour often sought 
repose, and prayed, the destroying angel came: "Lord, 
behold, he whom thou lovest is sick." 2 

And although this same Jesus may love you just as 
much, and give His angels charge over you in all 
your ways, sickness will come upon you sometime. 
Perhaps in the near future the wearisome days and 
nights will begin to dawn and darken; and your 
sufferings on the bed of languishing may become 
so great that your whole body shall be consumed, 
and your mind distracted: "The Lord shall give thee 
there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sor- 
row of mind: and thy life shall hang in doubt before 
thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt 
have none assurance of thy life: in the morning thou 
shalt say, Would God it were even ! and at even thou 
shalt say, Would God it were morning ! for the fear 
of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the 
eight of thine eyes which thou shalt see." 3 

You shall suffer temptation. You have enemies 
enough; their "name is Legion." 4 They are not 
open and honorable foes. They do not come march- 
ing down the highway in the daytime, like a brave 
and bannered army, with bands of music to proclaim 
their presence; but they come secretly, silently, and 
in tip; night season, hoping to surprise you. The 

1 John xi. 5. 2 John xi. 3. 

» Deut xxviii. 65-67. * Mark v. 9. 



334 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

boldest of them, with his quiver full of arrows, will 
scarcely dare to make a direct attack upon you, if 
you have on the "whole armor of God," 1 and are 
on your guard; because, in a fair fight, the weakest 
saint is more than a match for all the powers of dark- 
ness. And, knowing this, the angels of the devil pre- 
fer to lurk along your path, watching to spring upon 
you unawares. They set snares for your feet, and 
spread nets, and dig pitfalls, if by any means you 
may be taken captive; meanwhile their leader, the 
devil himself, "as a roaring lion, walketh about, seek- 
ing whom he may devour." 2 What cunning crafti- 
ness there is here ! While his own emissaries are 
lying in wait to open their masked batteries upon 
you, he himself goeth about to decoy you within 
reach of their guns. 

The old serpent is still "more subtle than any beast 
of the field." 3 He is wise to do evil, and for your 
diversities of temperament he hath divers tempta- 
tions; and most skilfully adapts his assaults to your 
circumstances, your mental bias, your master passion. 
He knows your constitution, your weakness, and your 
sin " which doth so easily beset." * Are you a lover 
of pleasure? He comes with a sparkling wine cup, 
saying, " A man hath no better thing under the sun, 
than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry." 5 Are 
you ambitious of honor? He comes with a royal 
diadem, saying, "This will I give you." Are you 
" greedy of filthy lucre ? " 6 He counts down the 

' Eph. vi. 11. 2 I Pet. v. 8. 3 Gen. iii. 1. 

* Heb. xii. 1. 5 Eccl. viii. 15. e I Tim. iii. 3. 



THE FEARFUL THINGS WE FEAR. 335 

twenty or thirty, or thousand pieces of silver, saying, 
" All this will I give you." He knows the best time, 
as well as the best way, to entice you with his wiles. 
He tempted Job when he was afflicted; he tempted 
Jesus when He was fasting ; he tempted Peter when 
his Master was put on trial for His life. So, in the 
most propitious time and place, the devil will intro- 
duce himself to you: not like a lion, but like a lamb; 
not like the serpent he now is, but like the seraph he 
once was ; changing his name, and concealing his real 
nature, by clothing himself from head to foot with 
the livery of heaven: "And no marvel; for Satan him- 
self is transformed into an angel of light." 1 

You shall suffer bereavement. This is doubtless 
the sorest thing that you shall ever suffer. Bereave- 
ment is confessedly the heaviest blow with which the 
people of God can be smitten in this world; it is the 
blow that breaks the heart the most, and leaves it 
longest bleeding. To love dearly and deeply and 
then to part; to take sweet counsel together for many 
years, and then to be separated; to go to the house 
of God in company with a true yoke-fellow, and then 
to go alone; to have a friend that sticketh closer than 
a brother, so loyal and leal-hearted, and then to go to 
his funeral : how sad it is ! 

We could wish that it might be otherwise; but it 
can not be otherwise; this cup may not pass from you 
unless you drink it. Your family will not remain the 
same as it this day is; and your delightful home will 
not be so happy always. The cheerful song will be 
• II Cor. xi. 14. 



336 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

hushed some day, soon, perhaps, and the musical in- 
strument will be closed, when the dear idol of your 
heart shall be taken sick. During- the night-watches 
your eyes will be held waking with anxiety, and in 
the daytime you will disguise your sorrow, as best 
you can, for the sake of the loved one who is wasting 
away. The best skill shall exhaust all its resources, 
every recommended remedy shall be tried in vain, and 
then. — What then ? Then, when life has no more 
stages, with weeping eyes you will gather round the 
dying bed, where the flower of the family shall fade ; 
and then the undertaker will come, walking softly, 
speaking in a whisper, and in all things executing 
the duties of his office with great tenderness; and 
then the dark day of the funeral will come, and 
through your blinding tears you will take the last 
long look on the pale face, so beautiful even in death, 
and the silent lips shall receive the parting kiss; and 
then you shall go to the grave, and bury your living 
heart with the beloved dust, and return to your des- 
olate home refusing to be comforted. 

You shall suffer death. This is that one event 
which happeneth to all. " It is appointed unto men 
once to die;" 1 and from the beginning of the world 
until now, only two persons have escaped the divine 
decree, " Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou 
return." 2 And, doubtless, Enoch and Elijah are the 
only twain who shall escape the universal appoint- 
ment, except those saints who shall be living at the 
time of the second advent ; and unless you are one of 
1 Heb. ix. 27. 2 Gen. iii. 19. 



THE FEARFUL THINGS WE FEAR. 337 

these, you must needs meet "the last enemy:" 1 not 
the worst, but the last enemy. It may come to pass 
that you shall see and feel the signs of his approach. 
Gray hairs, and dimness of eyes, and dulness of ears 
may come as his advance guard : " The keepers of the 
house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow 
themselves." 2 And the house itself shall begin to 
lean, its doors and windows, and doorposts and pil- 
lars shall be shaken with the wind; and the whole 
frame shall be weakened and worn out with the 
work and the weight of years. "Then shall the 
dust return to the earth as it was; and the spirit 
shall return unto God who gave it." 3 

Yes, and perhaps before the time of old age shall 
the earthly house of this tabernacle be taken down 
and laid away to moulder in the grave. Not one 
half the human family live out half their days. Fre- 
quently the sun goes down at noon, " while it was 
yet day"; ' and still more frequently "the night Com- 
eth" 6 very early in the morning. The moment we 
begin to live, we begin to die; and so we are dying 
all the time, and no man can tell how soon the work 
of death may be done. Like the "weaver's shuttle," 
and the "swift ships," 7 we are passing away; and, in 
a little while, the places that know us now shall know 
us no more forever. The theatre, to which Ave are 
always going 1 , and ill which we are always acting, 
will soon be closed; the last scene of the last act will 

' I Cor. xv. 2G. * Eccl. xii. 3. * Eccl. xii. 7. 

* Jcr. xv. 9. 8 John ix. 4. 6 Job vii. 6. 

7 Job ix. 2G. 



338 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

soon be over and ended: "For the fashion of this 
world passe th away." 1 

To-day yon may be in what is called the prime of 
life: your health may be good, and you may have 
the prospect of many years; but you may not have 
as many months or weeks or days: "For in such an 
hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh." 2 Such 
are some of the things which you shall suffer. 

You may expect these things. You are not left in 
painful uncertainty concerning their coming, — you 
know that they will surely appear. Your times- are 
in the hand of God, and all the things which shall 
befall you are written in His book. The hour, the 
place, the bitterness, and all the circumstances of your 
sickness, temptation, bereavement, and death, are de- 
termined. They were ordained for you from before 
the foundation of the world. The Bible teaches this 
blessed truth, and you believe it; and it is reasonable 
that you should expect those things that are in store 
for you. 

We have spoken of your sorrows as the lot of your 
inheritance, and as the heir expects his estate, and 
patiently waits for the set time to come, when he 
shall enter upon his possessions ; so you should look 
forward expecting to receive those things which were 
left to you by your Elder Brother, in whose last will 
and testament this bequest is written, " In the world 
ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have 
overcome the world." 3 

When you see your friends and neighbors inherit- 
» I Cor. vii. 31. * Mat. xxiv. U. 3 Jolm xvi. 33. 



THE FEARFUL THINGS WE FEAR. 339 

ing their portion of suffering, you should be reminded 
that similar afflictions are in store for you, and that 
sooner or later you must endure them. If they are 
much in your minds beforehand, they will not over- 
take you unawares, nor seem peculiar to your case: 
" Knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished 
in your brethren that are in the world." 1 

But here, as everywhere else, our Lord Jesus has 
gone before us, "leaving us an example, that ye 
should follow His steps." 2 His whole life was the 
expectation of suffering. He looked for Gethsemane 
and Calvary. In His happiest moments He thought 
about the cup and the cross, they were ever before 
Him. Even in the sweet perfume of Mary's very 
precious ointment there was the smell of the sepul- 
chre: "She did it for my burial." 3 Behold, how con- 
stantly and how earnestly He expected affliction : " I 
have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I 
straitened till it be accomplished." 4 

You may feel concerned about these things. In the 
early twilight of the first Christian Sabbath, "Mary 
Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Sa- 
lome," 5 went unto the sepulchre, desiring and ex- 
pecting to embalm the broken body of their blessed 
Redeemer. As they walked and were sad, they began 
to think about the great stone that was rolled against 
tin- door of the tomb: "And they said among them- 
selves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door 
of the sepulchre ?"• 

1 I Pet. v. 9. 'I Pet. ii. 21. 3 Mat. xxvi. 12. 

* Luke xii. 50. s Mark xvi. 1. « Mark xvi. 3. 



340 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

As often as yon have read this engaging incident, 
has the thought ever entered into your minds to 
blame these holy women lor their anxiety? Are 
they not rather to be commended for their careful- 
ness? There is such a thing, therefore, as anticipat- 
ing trouble without committing any sin. There is a 
becoming anxiety about things to come; and indeed 
there may be great wickedness in refusing to feel 
concerned about them: "A prudent man foreseeth 
the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, 
and are punished." 1 

There are some people so strangely constituted, 
and so stiffened in stoicism, that they have no care 
about any thing: they are "past feeling"; 2 their con- 
science is "seared with a hot iron";* their heart is 
harder than the hide of leviathan. They count it un- 
manly to manifest any emotion under any circum- 
stances. They know, as well as others, the things 
which they shall suffer, but they care not at all. 
When thoughts of the future come into their minds, 
they are speedily put to flight; there is no room for 
them there; they are not welcome, and will not be 
entertained; and, not unfrequently, the kindness that 
would put them in mind of these things is sharply 
condemned. We can not find language strong enough 
to express our opinion of such indifference, and the 
Lord alone can measure its exceeding sinfulness. 

When Pharaoh was commanded to let God's people 
go, he insultingly said: "Who is the Lord, that I 
should obey his voice, to let Israel go ? I know not 
i Prov. sxii. 3. * Eph. iv. 19. a 1 Tim. iv. 2. 



THE FEARFUL THINGS IFF FEAR. 34 1 

the Lord, neither will I let Israel go." 1 His neck 
was like an iron sinew and his brow brass, while his 
heart was like the nether millstone, and only became 
harder in the furnace where it should have been 
melted. He was forewarned of the calamities that 
would come upon himself and his kingdom if he per- 
sisted in refusing to obey the divine behest, but yet 
he persevered in his stubborn way, he would not be 
wise. Every fresh plague found him harder to be 
subdued: he saw the rivers running down blood, and 
swarms of flies, and showers of destroying hail, and 
thick darkness over all the land, but they seemed to 
be in vain. Perhaps his majesty thought, in due 
time, the potsherd would prevail; but when he saw 
his bannered army buried in the Red Sea, he learned 
who the Lord was: "Woe unto him that striveth 
with his Maker! " 2 

You may prepare for these things. When the sailor 
6ees a rainbow in the morning, he believes that a 
storm is coming; and he makes haste to reef homo 
the sail, and shut down the hatch, and put the ship 
in proper trim to ride out the hurricane. The barom- 
eter is better to foretoken the tempest than any sign 
in the 6ky; and when it indicates foul weather, it 
would be the height of presumption not to prepare 
for its approach. So, when, in any way, we are fore- 
warned of the sufferings which are sure to come, no 
time should be lost in getting ready to receive them: 
('Look for crosses, and while it is fair weather mend 
the sails of the ship." 

1 ExocL v. 2. "- Isa. xlv. 'J. 



342 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

This is what Noah did. "By faith Noah, being 
warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with 
fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house." 1 
He was moved with fear only, lest the flood should 
come before the ark was finished. But while he 
worked diligently, God waited patiently; He waited 
for one hundred and twenty years: "The long-suf- 
fering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the 
ark was a preparing." 2 

From the destruction of the old world by water, to 
the destruction of the present world by fire, the tran- 
sition is natural and scriptural: "As the days of Noah 
were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." * 
From the day of the deluge we look "unto the com- 
ing of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on 
fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt 
with fervent heat: nevertheless we, according to the 
promise, look for new heavens, and a new earth 
wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, 
seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that 
ye may be found of Him in peace, without spot and 
blameless." * 

We may pray to be delivered from these things. 
"After this manner therefore pray ye: Lead us not 
into temptation, but deliver us from evil." 5 In all 
your anticipations of suffering, and in all your ap- 
prehensions of evil, " In every thing by prayer and 
supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be 
made known unto God. And the peace of God which 

' Heb. xi. 7. 2 I Pet. iii. 20. 3 Mat. xxiv. 37. 

* II Pet. iii. 12-14. * Mat. vi. 9, 13. 



THE FEARFUL THINGS WE FEAR. 343 

passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and 
minds through Christ Jesus." 1 Your case will never 
be so desperate and distressing as to prevent prayer. 
The day of your death may have dawned, and the 
devil may have beguiled you to the very brink of 
the pit; but, by prayer and supplication, you may 
be delivered from death and hell: "Whatsoever ye 
shall ask in my name, that will I do." 2 

After they had been doomed to destruction, Abra- 
ham prayed for the guilty cities of the plain; and 
every one of his six petitions prevailed immediate- 
ly; and, doubtless, if he had prayed more, he Avould 
have prevailed more; for he left off asking before the 
Lord left off answering. When Hezekiah was sick 
unto death, he prayed, and the Lord heard him and 
lengthened his life "fifteen years." 3 When David 
was tempted, he prayed, saying, " Pull me out of the 
net that they have laid privily for me: for thou art 
my strength." * When the disciples of John were 
bereaved of their teacher, they came, "and took up 
the body and buried it, and went and told Jesus." 8 

When Christ saw the cross in the cup, though pros- 
trated to the ground by the sight, He still held it fast, 
but held it up to the throne of grace, and, " with 
strong crying and tears," 6 prayed: "0 my Father, if 
it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless, 
not as I will, but as thou wilt." 7 

I »• arly beloved, all these are patterns for you, and 

' Phil. iv. f», 7. * John xiv. 13. 3 II Kings xx. 6. 
< Ph. xxxi. 4. » Mat. xiv. 12. « Heb. v. 7. 

* Mat. xxvi. 39. 



344 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

when troubles threaten, they should be made the sub- 
jects of special prayer. It is good to have an errand 
when you go to the mercy-seat. When you are sick, 
prayer will be the best prescription; when you are 
tempted, prayer will be the best shield; when you 
are bereaved, just go and tell Jesus; you need not 
wait till after the funeral, but go at once, and He will 
have the best sympathy ready for you. And above 
all, when, soon or late, you come to your Gethsemane, 
and the cup is put into your hand, carry it to the 
throne of grace, and if it may not pass away, you 
shall see the strengthening angel flying down from 
heaven to hold you in his arms, and help you to say 
triumphantly, "The cup which my Father hath given 
me, shall I not drink it?" 1 

These things you may do, and ought to do; but 
you should never be afraid of future trials, as if they 
could harm you: "Fear none of those things which 
thou shalt suffer." 

That we may learn more perfectly the main lesson 
of our theme, and carry every thing to the throne 
of grace, come and let us go for a few moments to 
Peniel, that place of great renown, where the Potter 
and the potsherd strove together from the going down 
of the sun to the rising of the same, and where the 
potsherd prevailed. Jacob was returning home with 
his family and his flocks, and was expecting soon 
to meet with Esau, his injured, angry brother, whose 
wrath had now been nursed for more than twenty 
years. The patriarch was never before in so much 
1 John xviii. 11. 



THE FEARFUL TH1XGS WE FEAR. 345 

danger. The first messengers, whom he sent to Edom, 
had just returned, saying, "We came to thy brother 
Esau, and also he cometh to meet thee, and four hun- 
dred men with him. Then Jacob was greatly afraid 
and distressed." 1 

Immediately he began to make ready for the great 
emergency. First of all, he wisely divided his people 
and his possessions into two bands, reasoning after 
this manner: "If Esau come to the one company, and 
smite it, then the other company which is left shall 
escape." ■ He then went boldly to the throne of grace 
to plead his cause, and this was the burden of his fer- 
vent prayer: "Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand 
of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, 
lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with 
the children." 3 As soon as he had done praying, he 
Benl Esau a princely present of five hundred and fifty 
cattle, with such kindly messages as were calculated 
to turn away his auger, and touch his heart into 
tenderness. 

Having done these things, which were proper and 
praiseworthy, he seems to have sought a little rest; 
but there was no rest for him there that night. He 
was so troubled that he could not sleep; the thought 
of danger held his eyes waking, and he rose up, and 
Bent Ins family over the brook Jabbok, and himself 
was left alone; and yet not alone, for straightway 
somebody closes with him, as if for a contest. How 
Jacob must have fit when he thought that this might 
be one of Esau'a four hundred men, or Esau himself. 

1 Gen. xixii. G, 7. 2 Gen. xxxiL 8. ■' , Gen. xsxii. 11. 



346 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

Surely he must be an enemy, for he comes so like a 
foe. They wrestle long, they wrestle hard, each striv- 
ing for the mastery. The first watch of the night is 
passed away, and they are close locked in each other's 
arms; the second watch is over, and still the strange 
struggle is undecided; the third watch is ended, and 
they are striving as hard as ever; the fourth watch is 
wearing the night away, and Jacob's thigh is out of 
joint; but, though he is crippled, he will not be con- 
quered: " Let me go, for the day breaketh," 1 exclaims 
his antagonist. And Jacob replies, or might have 
replied, " Yes, the day is breaking — the most fearful 
day of all my life, for Esau my wronged and wrathful 
brother is approaching to execute the fierceness of 
his anger upon me for taking away his birthright, 
and before yon rising sun is set, I, and my wives, and 
my children may all be murdered; and now, in the 
face of such danger, and as a light above the bright- 
ness of the sun begins to dawn upon my soul, and I 
know thee, who thou art, my God and Saviour, how 
can I let thee go ? Nay, nay, I will not let thee go, 
except thou bless me." 

The conclusion of the contest is beautifully touch- 
ing beyond all telling. Having received the blessing, 
and crowned with beauty for ashes, " Jacob lifted up 
his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau came ; " 2 not 
with bitter enmity, but with brotherly love. His 
long-harbored hatred had given place to the most 
endearing affection: "And Esau ran to meet him, 
and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed 
1 Gen. xxxii. 26. 2 Gen. xxxiii. 1. 



THE FEARFUL THINGS WE FEAR. 347 

him." 1 "What a delightful termination to all Jacob's 
anxieties and fears ; and how different the result was 
from what he anticipated ! He expected to meet a 
brother offended, but he met a brother reconciled; 
he expected to be received with blows, but he was 
received with kisses. 

Are any of you in such a case ? Are your minds 
filled with gloomy forebodings of the future ? do you 
see in the distance some trial so appalling that you 
can not realize it, and yet so sure and certain that it 
is inevitable ? are you almost persuaded that it is use- 
less to pray against it; and is it hoping against hope 
to expect deliverance from it ? Be of good cheer, be 
not afraid, but let your faith be strengthened, and 
your hope brightened with this timely message from 
God unto thee: "Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye 
men of Israel: I will help thee, saith the Lord, and 
thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. Behold, I will 
make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having 
teeth: thou shall thresh the mountains, and beat them 
small, and shalt make the hills as chaff. Thou shalt 
fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and 
the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt re- 
joice in the Lord, and shalt glory in the Holy One 
of Israel." 8 

1 Gen. xxxiiL 4. * Isa. xli. 14, 16. 



34 8 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

Blessed Jesus, thou art our guide to lead us in thine 
own right way, and our guard to defend us from every 
danger. Thou art our sun and our shield: our sun 
that never sets in the darkness of night, and our 
shield that never breaks in the day of battle. Let 
it please thee to grant us grace and glory in such 
good measure that we may have the best fruits of the 
better country before we get there. When our souls 
are cast down and disquieted within us, by reason of 
the fearful things Ave fear, lift up the light of thy 
countenance upon us, and let us hear thy voice say- 
ing unto us, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. 
We are weak but thou art mighty; gird us about with 
thine own omnipotence and make us more than equal 
to the greatest emergency; for we wrestle not against 
flesh and blood, but against principalities, against 
powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this 
world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.. 
Lead us not into temptation ; but deliver us from evil. 
Deliver us from the evil one, from every evil way and 
from our own evil hearts. Save us from the fear of 
fearful things, and let neither sickness nor temptation 
nor bereavement nor death have dominion over us any 
more. And by thy real presence make the valley of 
Achor so bright a door of hope that it shall be to us 
the very door of heaven. 



THE FEAR OF FEARFUL THINGS. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

"Fear none of those things -which thou shalt suffer." — Rev. ii. 10. 

NOT many years ago, it became our duty, and 
it was just as much a pleasure, to gather the 
fruit from a certain apple-tree in the orchard. The 
tree was good, and the apples were good, though they 
were not very plenty, and we expected to gather all 
of them in a little while, never thinking that there 
would be more than one basketful. But we were 
disappointed; for when our basket was running over 
there seemed to be more fruit on the tree, than we 
had taken from it; and after we had carried home 
our load, we emptied the basket, and returned to 
the tree, and filled it again the second time; and, 
even then, some of the best apples were left hang- 
ing on the topmost branches, to which we could not 
climb. 

We were reminded of this incident by what has 
happened to us in regard to our text. We came 
to it. as we went to that apple-tree; we climbed up 
into it, confidently expecting to gather all its precious 
fruit at once; but before our basket was filled, we per- 
ceived that we would have to come back again. And 
for this yon may feel sorry, because a second sermon 
from the same text, on the same Sabbath, is not much 



352 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

to be desired; nor would it seem strange if some of 
you were thinking that we tarried too long in the 
tree this morning, — for we did remain longer than 
Ave intended, — but, it was so good to be there, we 
could not come down any sooner; and surely this 
small transgression should be pardoned, when we 
did it altogether for your s;ikes. 

We perceived that with Home of you the harvest 
was passing and the summer was ending. We saw 
the gray hairs, — the white frost that had fallen on your 
heads, — and thinking that the coming winter might 
be long and cold and cheerless, it was the desire of our 
heart to gather some winter fruit for you; that you 
might have something laid by in store against the 
time of need. We were anticipating the season, per- 
haps not far distant, when sorrow would come, and 
you Avould be saying: "Comfort me with apples, for 
I am sick and tempted and bereaved, and the time 
of my departure is at hand." 

It was for this reason that we gathered for you 
some fruit, from the sweet apple-tree of the text, this 
morning. And we are coming back to gather some 
more for you this afternoon; and when we have filled 
our basket the second time, much ripe fruit will still 
remain beyond our reach; for our ladder is not long 
enough to take us all the way up into the top of this 
text: "Fear none of those things which thou shaft 
suffer." 

The things which you shall suffer, we have already 
enumerated. You may expect them; you may feel 
concerned about them; you may prepare for them; 



THE FEAR OF FEARFUL THINGS. 353 

you may pray to be delivered from them; but you 
should never fear them. 

You should never fear them, because there is a 
limit set to them. When our way has been dark and 
crooked and rough, we have derived much comfort 
from that common proverb: "The longest road has 
a turning." Hope, the charmer, springs eternal in 
the human breast, and keeps the fainting heart from 
breaking. 

Perhaps the desired and expected bend is near, and 
just beyond it the road is bright and straight and 
smooth: "The Lord turned the captivity of Job, when 
he prayed for his friends: also the Lord gave Job 
twice as much as he had before ; " * and in the names 
of his three fair daughters he commemorated God's 
loving-kindness, in the dawning of a brighter day, 
fragrant with the flowers of health and wealth, and 
filled with all manner of good things poured from the 
horn of heaven's plenty. But, turn or no turn, the 
longest road will have a termination. There is a 
limit set to your suffering time: "now for a season, 
if need be, ye are in heaviness ; " 2 but the season will 
come to an end. You may have a hundred crosses to 
carry, but in a little while you will have only ninety 
and nine ; and after ninety and nine little whiles, you 
will have none. The deepest pit in this world has a 
bottom ; the widest sea has a shore, and all its waves 
and billows and waterspouts are numbered and meas- 
ured and bridled: "Hitherto shalt thou come, but no 
further; and here shall thy proud waves be stayed." 3 

1 Job xlii. 10. 2 I Pet. 1-6. =» Job xxxviii. 11. 

23 



354 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

Every tear is counted, and kept as a sacred treasure 
in heaven: "Put thou my tears into thy bottle: are 
they not in thy book ? " Even the Arctic night has 
a morning. After Dr. Kane had been dwelling in 
darkness for one hundred and forty days, the blessed 
light came at last; and as he eagerly climbed the 
crag and "nestled in the sunshine, it was like bath- 
ing in perfumed water." 

So your night of sorrow may be long, but it has a 
limit; it may be lasting, but it can not be everlast- 
ing; it may be dark, but it will not be always dark: 
"For His anger endureth but a moment; in His favor 
is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy 
cometh in the morning." 1 And, better still, with 
some of you, " The night is far spent," 2 the day is 
at hand : the day without the night, when you shall 
have fulness of joy and pleasures for evermore. 

A minister was once preaching on our text; the 
whole verse was his theme: "Fear none of those 
things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall 
cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; 
and ye shall have tribulation ten days : be thou faith- 
ful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life." 3 
An humble woman, herself in great tribulation at the 
time, was deeply impressed by the exact limit which 
the text seemed so absolutely to fix to that particular 
instance of Satan's power; and as she passed along 
the street, she was heard to say, " Blessed be God, it 
can not be eleven ; no, it can not be eleven." 

It is probable that the Master also comforted Him- 
1 Ps. xxx. 5. 2 Kom. xiii. 12. s R e v. ii. 10. 



THE FEAR OF FEARFUL THINGS. 355 

self in the same manner, when He began to be bap- 
tized with the baptism of our sins and our sorrows: 
"Father, the hour is come." 1 Might not the short- 
ness of that season have revived His fainting spirit, 
and renewed His failing strength ? Yes, the hour is 
come; but I will be of good cheer, and bear it bravely, 
because it will soon be over. It is the hour, but only 
an hour, and can not be one moment more. 

And perhaps the strengthening angel comforted and 
encouraged Jesus with the same assurance in Geth- 
semane. Lifting Him up tenderly from the bloody 
ground, and wiping away the bloody sweat from His 
blessed face, and helping Him to hold the cup to His 
quivering lips, I can almost hear him saying, " Lord 
of glory drink; the cup is bitter, but not bottomless. 
The hour is come; the hour is going; the hour is 
almost gone; only a few moments more, and all this 
agony will be over and ended forever." 

With this same thought we also may comfort and 
encourage one another. There is much good cheer, 
and strong consolation, in the glorious hope that our 
Borrows will soon be over. The times may be hard, 
the bank may be broken, and there may be no work 
in the factory; but these things will not continue. 
In the daya of Jeremiah, the times were hard in Ca- 
naan, and the dreadful work of war was the only 
work the people had to do. Nebuchadnezzar, the 
king of Babylon, invaded the country and laid it 
wash- everywhere. His grand army came marching 
over the mountains, and like a great snake, with coils 
' John xvii. 1. 



356 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

of brass and fangs of steel, began to wind itself around 
the walls of Jerusalem, and the fall of the holy city- 
was only a question of time. And, sorer still, the 
weeping prophet was shut up in prison, and, better 
than any body else, he knew the terrible sufferings 
of the near future; but yet he had so much confidence 
in the divine promise, " Houses and fields and vine- 
yards shall be possessed again in this land," 1 that he 
bought a parcel of ground in " the country of Benja- 
min," from his cousin who came to him in the prison. 
Anathoth was in possession of the enemy; but Jer- 
emiah bought the field and paid for it, and put the 
title deeds in an earthen vessel and laid them away 
for better times. And after a while the better times 
came; and with them came joy and gladness and 
great prosperity. "When the Lord turned again the 
captivity of Zion, Ave Avere like them that dream. 
Then Avas our mouth filled with laughter, and our 
tongue Avith singing : then said they among the 
heathen, The Lord hath done great things for them." 2 
And, blessed be His glorious name, " This God is our 
God forever and ever"; 3 He is "our oavh God,"* and 
our "exceeding joy";" and He Avill do greater things 
for us. " Why art thou cast doAvn, my soul ? and 
why art thou disquieted within me ? hope thou in 
God: for I shall yet praise Him, avIio is the health of 
my countenance and my God." 6 

In suffering you shall haA^e sufficient grace. Grace 
is never given to be laid up in store, but to be laid 

i Jer. sxxii. 15. 2 Ps. cxxvi. 1, 2. 3 p s . xlviii. 14. 
* Ps. lxvii. 6. « Ps. xliii. 4. c p s . s iii. 11. 



THE FEAR OF FEARFUL THINGS. 357 

out in service; it is given for present not for future 
need; and, like the talents in the parable, it may be 
doubled, if wisely used, and so it may be constantly 
increased, and made equal to any and every emer- 
gency; and where grief abounds, grace shall much 
more abound. If, then, you have grace enough for 
the present, you ought to be contented, and trustful 
for the future, because, " God is able to make all 
grace abound toward you ; that ye, always having all 
sufficiency in all things may abound to every good 
work." 1 

When trouble comes, it will be time enough to 
look for strength to bear it. Then, in answer to your 
prevailing prayer, you shall hear the Saviour saying, 
"My grace is sufficient for thee." 2 Behold, what a 
message from heaven this is ! Every word is won- 
derful and full of love divine. See how it grows! 
Grace; my grace; my grace is sufficient; my grace is 
sufficient for thee. Your Almighty Friend will suit 
His yoke to your neck, and your neck to His yoke, 
and then it will be easy; He will fit His burden to 
your back, ;uid your back to His burden, and then it 
will be light: "God is faithful, who will not suffer 
you to be tempted above that ye arc able;" 3 "He 
Btayeth His rough wind in tin; day of the east wind."* 
lie will prepare Hie way for your feet, by sending 
the promises, like so many laboring men to repair the 
road, 'and the crooked shall be made straight, and 
lip' rough places plain;" 5 and He will also prepare 

' II Cor. ix. 8. s II Cor. xii. 9. => 1 Cor. x. 13. 

* Isa. xxvii. 8. * Iso. xl. 4. 



358 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

your feet for His way: "Thy shoes shall be iron and 
brass; and as thy days, so shall thy strength be." 1 
He will give grace for your troubles as they come, 
one by one; and for the blessings which they bring, 
you shall be in love with them, and count them all 
joy, and glory in them. " Beloved, think it not strange 
concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as 
though some strange thing happened unto you : but 
rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's suf- 
ferings; that when His glory shall be revealed, ye 
may be glad also with exceeding joy." 2 

It was when John Bunyan was in prison that he 
thus wrote to magnify the grace which was given 
unto him : " I never knew what it was for God to 
stand by me at all turns, and at every offer of Satan 
to afflict me, as I have found since I came in hither; 
for look how fears have presented themselves, so 
have supports and encouragements. Yea, when I 
have started even, as it were, at nothing else but my 
shadow, yet God, as being very tender of me, hath 
not suffered me to be molested; but would with one 
Scripture or another strengthen me against all, inso- 
much that I have often said, were it lawful, I could 
pray for greater trouble, for the greater comfort's 
sake." 

Your Saviour will be with you in suffering. Ap- 
prehensions of evil are the swift chariots in which 
Jesus comes driving down from heaven, as fast as 
He can ; and as soon as He alights, He says to those 
who are of a fearful heart : " Fear not ; for I have re- 
' Deut. xxxiii. 25. * I Pet iv. 12, 13. 



THE FEAR OF FEARFUL THINGS. 359 

deemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou 
art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I 
will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall 
not overflow thee; when thou walkest through the 
fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame 
kindle upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the 
Holy Oue of Israel, thy Saviour." ' 

Christ was with the three heroic Hebrews in the 
burning fiery furnace. The cruel king of Babylon 
saw Him there and confessed it. With astonish- 
ment he said to his counsellors: "Did not we cast 
three men bound into the midst of the fire? They 
answered and said unto the king, True king. He 
answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking 
in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and 
the form of the fourth is like the Son of God." 2 The 
furnace was so exceeding hot, that the bursting flames 
actually burned up the soldiers who cast Shadrach, 
Meshach, Abed-nego into it; but they only burned off 
the cords with which these noble martyrs were bound 
that they might walk with Him who "quenched the 
violence of fire." 3 

Chrisl w;is also with Daniel in the lions' den, and 
preserved the life of his faithful servant. Darius, the 
king, was greatly distressed about his unchangeable 
decree, when In- saw the design of it; for there was 
no man in all tin; realm whom he respected so much 
as the great prime minister. And when his majesty 
ordered the wicked law to be executed, it is not 
Btrange that he could not sleep, and passed the night 
' Isa. xliii. 1-3. * Dan. iii. 24, 25. > Heb. xL 34. 



360 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

fasting, and rose "very early in the morning and 
•went in haste unto the den of lions. And when he 
came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice 
unto Daniel: and the king spake and said to Daniel, 

Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom 
thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the 
lions? Then said Daniel unto the king, king, live 
forever. My God hath sent His angel and hath shut 
the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me."' 1 

This same Jesus, the angel of the covenant, is 
always present with all His suffering people in all 
their sorrows. Just before He went up to heaven, 
He said, " Lo, I am with you alway." 2 In the part- 
ing moment, He promised His perpetual presence: 
"I am going away, nevertheless I will be with you 
still; and you must not think of me as ever absent, 
for I shall never be absent. I am with you alway. 
In sickness, temptation, bereavement, and death, lo, 

1 am with you." And Christ in suffering is Christ 
indeed. 

When we begin the voyage of the better life, He 
will embark with us, and thenceforth He will be with 
us through pleasant and through stormy weather. He 
will be with us when the sea is smooth ; and when the 
sea is rough He will be with us still; nor will He 
ever fail us or forsake us: "He shall deliver thee in six 
troubles; yea in seven there shall no evil touch thee." 3 
Christ in the vessel is no security against the tempest; 
but, blessed be His name, the ship in which He sails 
can never go under; and so we can sing in all storms: 
1 Dan. vi. 19-22. 2 Mat. xxviii. 20. 3 Job v. 19. 



THE FEAR OF FEARFUL THINGS. 36 1 

" God is our refuge and strength, a very present help 
in trouble. Therefore will not Ave fear, though the 
earth be removed, and though the mountains be car- 
ried into the midst of the sea: though the waters 
thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains 
shake with the swelling thereof." 1 

Your sufferings will do you good. Suffering is a 
grace like faith, it is also a means of grace like prayer. 
It is both the spring and the channel from which and 
through which we receive grace for grace: "For unto 
you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to 
believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake." 3 
Many afflictions are sent upon us, not because we 
have gone astray, but to prevent us from going 
astray, and to make us more holy and more heav- 
enly-minded. There is a rod of consolation, as well 
as a rod of correction, "Thy rod and thy staff they 
comfort me." 3 

Joseph's personal piety was the occasion of his being 
sold into slavery ; and his personal purity was the oc- 
casion of his being cast into prison. But, under the 
circumstances, slavery in Egypt was better for Joseph 
than freedom in Canaan; and the prison was a safer 
place for him than Potiphar's house. Besides, these 
downward steps in the valley of humiliation brought 
him out into a wealthy place, and up into "the second 
chariot"' of the king; and the servant was above his 
master. 

The life of every Christian is like Samson's riddle, 

' Pb. xlvi. 1-3. * Phil. i. 29. 

» Ps. xxiii. 4. < Gen. xli. 43. 



362 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

"Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the 
strong came forth sweetness." 1 The Philistines will 
never be able to explain it; but to the suffering people 
of God it is not hard to be understood. By the grace 
of Christ, they slay the lion which was seeking to 
devour them, and the next time they pass that way 
they find a hive of honey in his decaying carcass; 
something that is very sweet unto the taste, and very 
refreshing too. Such a pleasant surprise, how good 
it is, and how often it occurs ! 

It is the belief of the savage that the spirit of every 
enemy he slays enters into himself and is added to 
his own; and, desiring to accumulate a warrior's 
strength against the day of battle, he slays all he 
can. Is it your desire to become strong in the Lord 
and in the power of His might ? Then " Why with- 
drawest thou thy hand, even thy right hand ? pluck 
it out of thy bosom," 2 and, taking the sword of the 
Spirit, let your enemies fall before you. Every sin 
you smite down, every sorrow you subdue, shall so 
strengthen your faith that in a little while you may 
go to the funeral of your fears. 

It was through repeated trials and triumphs that 
David became strong. The king of Israel was amazed 
when he saw the stripling who had accepted Goliath's 
challenge: "And Saul said to David, Thou art not 
able to go against this Philistine to fight with him : 
for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from 
his youth. And David said unto Saul, Thy servant 
kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion and a 
1 Judges xiv. 14. - Ps. lxxiv. 11. 



THE FEAR OF FEARFUL THINGS. 363 

bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: and T went 
after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his 
mouth : and when he arose against me, I caught him 
by the beard, and smote him, and slew him. Thy 
servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this un- 
circumcised Philistine shall be as one of them." 1 And, 
sure enough, it was even so; for, when the stripling 
returned from the slaughter field, he brought the 
giant's dripping head in one hand, and his reeking 
sword in the other. 

Soon after this, David was in greater danger of his 
life from the wrath of that same Saul whom he had 
served so well. "Saul eyed David," 2 and envied him, 
and went about " breathing out threatenings and 
slaughter " 3 against him. As he was hunted with 
savage hate, the coming man once fled into the Tab- 
ernacle and asked for a weapon of defence. The 
priest informed him that there was none there, ex- 
cept the sword of Goliath. " And David said, There 
i< aone like that; give it me." 4 

In our spiritual warfare there are no weapons like 
those with which we vanquish our enemies. The 
sword with which we have cut off the head of some 
-i;mt sin, or smote to death some towering tempta- 
tion, or piem-d through some pining sorrow, "there 
is none tike that; give it me," that steel is tried and 
proved 

Time would fail us to speak of the various ways in 
which afflictions will do us good. They will make 

' I Sum. xvii. 33 3G. » I Sam. xviii. 9. 

1 Arts ix 1. * I Sam. xxi. 9. 



364 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

us wiser and better, as well as stronger. Sickness 
and bereavement are the best school-masters in the 
world ; and sorrow's commentary on the Scriptures is 
the most complete and comprehensive with which we 
are acquainted. The Bible seems like another book 
when read through one's tears and in the valley of 
Achor. And if Paul could speak down from heaven 
on this subject, he would say, that the " thorn in the 
flesh "was a better teacher than Gamaliel; a better 
preacher than himself. "And he took the elders of 
the city, and thorns of the wilderness, and briers, and 
with them he taught the men of Succoth." 1 

Trouble is a good microscope by which we can 
examine ourselves more perfectly, and every time 
we look through it, Ave find many faults we never 
saw before. Even the very best of Christians can not 
tell how bad they are till they are tried, and no person 
thoroughly knows himself. When Elisha told him 
the evil that he would do Hazael was indignant; but 
with treason hiding in his heart at the time, he re- 
turned to the royal palace, murdered his master " on 
the morrow," and straightway proved himself worse 
than his own "dog." 2 

Trouble is also a good telescope through which we 
can see the promises afar off shining like the brightest 
stars in the sky of the Scriptures. And the night of 
weeping is the set time for making celestial observa- 
tions: "Night unto night showeth knowledge." 3 

These are some of the reasons why you ought not to 
fear those things which you shall suffer. We might 
1 Judges viii. 16. 2 II Kings viii. 13. 3 Ps. xix. 2. 



THE FEAR OF FEARFUL THINGS. 365 

say more 011 our timely theme; but a kindred thought 
suggests itself here, as the conclusion of the whole 
matter; it is this: if you need fear none of those 
things which you shall suffer, then surely you need 
not fear those things which you may suffer only in 
anticipation. 

There are some sombre Christians to whom the 
future is all dark, and always dark, and its shadows 
are stretched out over the present, to eclipse all its 
pleasures. When Mr. Great-Heart and his compan- 
ions killed Giant Despair, and demolished Doubting 
Castle, they found in the dungeon "one Mr. Despond- 
ency, almost starved to death, and one Much-Afraid 
his daughter; these two they saved alive." And, 
strange to say, these two are living still : their hearts 
are faint; their faith is small; their hope is dim; 
and because they can neither fight nor fly, they are 
liable to be taken prisoners again. They go down- 
cast all their days, and subject to bondage; you 
never see them smiling, and they are never of good 
cheer. All the imaginary bitter of the future is 
drained out into the sweet cup of the present, and 
poisons all. 

For many years "our father Jacob" was such a 
man. He was the weeping patriarch; but most of 
his tears might have been spared. He was almost 
distracted when he said, " Joseph is not, and Simeon 
is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these 
things arc against me." 1 Let us see now if it was 
really so? When the brethren came back from Egypt 
1 (it:i). xlii. 3G. 



3^6 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

Simeon was with them, and Benjamin was with them; 
and, better still, they brought these glad tidings of 
great joy to their broken-hearted father: "Joseph is 
yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of 
Egypt." 1 

Moreover, for more than twenty years Jacob was 
anticipating an unhappy death. When he first saw 
Joseph's coat, once of many colors, but now all red 
with blood, he thought his dearest child was dead, 
and refused to be comforted, saying, " I will go down 
into the grave unto my son mourning." 2 He expected 
nothing else, but that, soon or late, his gray hairs 
would come down with "sorrow to the grave." 3 Such 
were his long-cherished apprehensions concerning the 
manner of his departure. But God was better to 
him than his fears. If his former days were "few 
and evil," * his latter days were filled with good and 
crowned with " beauty for ashes." He had his dwell- 
ing-place in the best of the land of Egypt: there, in 
the immediate vicinity of his best and most beloved 
son, the last seventeen years of his pilgrimage passed 
pleasantly away. He had peace and riches and honor 
in abundance. "At evening time it shall be light." 5 

And now let us go even to Goshen, and see how 
his gray hairs went down, not with sorrow but with 
glory, to the grave. There stands the royal chariot 
at the door; Joseph has come, and Ephraim and Ma- 
nasseh are with him. All the twelve patriarchs are 
there, gathered round their dying father to receive 

• Gen. xlv. 26. 2 Gen. xxxvii. 35. 3 Gen. xlii. 38. 
4 Gen. xlvii. 9. 5 Zech. xiv. 7. 



THE FEAR OF FEARFUL THINGS. 367 

Lis dying blessing: "And Israel said unto Joseph, I 
had not thought to see thy face: and, lo, God hath 
showed me also thy seed." 1 With the laying on of 
hands he blessed them all, and divided the land of 
promise among them; and then, with prayers and 
praises, he passed away and was gathered to his peo- 
ple. " By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed 
both the sons of Joseph ; and worshipped leaning upon 
the top of his staff." 2 

Perhaps there are some here present whose antici- 
pations are something like those of Jacob. You are 
old and gray-headed, poor and friendless, and tor- 
mented day and night with the fear of fearful things. 
Many years ago the companion of your pilgrimage — 
your beautiful and beloved Rachel — " died, and was 
buried in the way." 3 All your children, whom you 
hoped would be the comfort of your declining age, 
have been gathered to the grave; and there you stand 
alone, like some old, branchless, broken oak in the 
open field. You are admonished by the advancing 
years, and frequent indisposition, that the end is 
near; and you are troubled when you think that 
there is none to be with you in the time of often 
infirmity ; Done to minister to your wants in your 
last sickness; and that you will be borne to your 
burial by the hands of strangers, and laid away, it 
may be, in the potter's field. 

We will make no apology for saying plainly, that 
;ill siicb thoughts are positively wicked; s\ieh fearful 
forebodings are exceeding sinful. There is One who 
1 Gun. xlviii. 11. 1 Heb. xi. 21. * Gon. xxxv. 19. 



368 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

will be with you in the time of old age: "Even to 
your old age I am He ; and even to hoar hairs will I 
carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will 
carry, and will deliver you." 1 - There is One who will 
be with you in your last illness. Jesus, who is better 
than ten sons, and "the chiefest among ten thousand," 
will make all your bed for you. Nay, His own dear 
breast shall be your dying bed, and you shall breathe 
your life out sweetly there in His embrace. And so 
far as the burial is concerned, surely, you should not 
be troubled about that, since it is written: "The 
beggar died, and was carried by the angels into 
Abraham's bosom." 2 Plow imposingly magnificent ! 
how beautiful and glorious beyond expression! angels 
for bearers ; and Abraham's bosom for a cemetery ! 
No burial is worthy to be compared with this; no, not 
even the burial of "Moses my servant," 3 whose grave 
was prepared, and whose body was covered by the 
very hands of God Himself. 

" Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be 
afraid." 4 "The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy 
shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite 
thee by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall 
preserve thee from all evil : He shall preserve thy soul. 
The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy com- 
ing in from this time forth, and even for evermore." 5 

1 Isa. xlvi. 4. 2 Luke xvi. 22. 3 Josh. i. 2. 

* John xiv. 27. 6 Ps. cxxi. 5-8. 



CROSSING THE JORDAN. 



CHAPTER XV. 

" Prepare you victuals; for -within three days ye shall pass over this 
Jordan."— Josh. i. II. 



T 



HE children of Israel were encamped in what 
might be called their land of Beulah. After 
forty years of wandering round about, they had 
emerged from the barren wastes of their desert path, 
and were resting awhile in peaceful security before 
starting on the last stage of their long journey. 

It was about the middle of the month of April. 
Their herds of cattle, and flocks of sheep, were qui- 
etly grazing in the greenest pastures they had found 
since leaving Goshen. In full bloom, the fruit-trees 
and flowers were freighting the air with sweet-smell- 
ing fragrance, and the fields of barley were already 
ripe fur the reaper's sickle. 

A magnificent view met the eye in every direc- 
tion. Away to the north spread out the great plain 
of Esdraelon, shut in by " that goodly mountain and 
Lebanon." And looking toward the south they could 
Bee -ill "the hill country of Judea,"' which was even 
,is the -allien of the Lord. Directly before them stood 
tin- walled city of Jericho, embosomed in its own em- 
erald palms, which envied not the trees of Eden for 
their beauty. While just behind them towered up 
1 Luke i. C5. 



372 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

to heaven, in all their solemn grandeur, the sacred 
mountains of Nebo and Hor, which were, at the same 
time, the graves and the gravestones of Moses and 
Aaron, and the most fitting monuments for those 
noble brothers, and leal-hearted servants of the Lord. 

It was when the redeemed people were reposing in 
this delightful region of country that they received 
an order from Joshua, their new commander-in-chief, 
requiring them to make ready for the passage of the 
river which still rolled between them and the home 
of their hearts: "Prepare you victuals; for within 
three days ye shall pass over this Jordan." 

Now, there can be no question, Ave think, that the 
Hebrews were a typical people, and in God's deal- 
ings with them, and us, the past is repeated in the 
present. 

The land of Egypt, where their lives were made 
" bitter with hard bondage," 1 is a good representation 
of our natural estate; for Ave are "sold under sin" 2 
into slavery, and Satan is a hard master. 

Their journey through the wilderness, with its bitter 
and SAA r eet Avaters, seems like one long parable of our 
Christian pilgrimage, which is made up of nothing 
else but Marahs and Elims from its commencement 
to its close. 

The land of Canaan, Avhich was "the glory of all 
lands," 3 and God's oavu horn of plenty, has been taken 
by the church in all ages as the most common emblem 
of heaven itself. 

And the Jordan, Avhich Avas sometimes so narrow 
1 Exod. i. 14. 2 Rom. vii. 14. 3 Ezek. xx. 6. 



CROSSING THE JORDAN. 373 

and shallow and slow, that a little child could easily 
ford it; and then again, in the rainy season, so wide 
and deep and swift, that it became quite impassable 
to the strongest swimmer; and now the last barrier 
betwixt them and the better country, has been gen- 
erally accepted as the image of death ; that cold, dark 
river which rolls between us and the green fields of 
Paradise. 

And just as the peculiar people had need of special 
preparation to pass over the Jordan; so we have need 
to make ready for crossing the darker, deeper, and 
more dangerous river of death. And hoping to speak 
a word in season, our further remarks to-day shall 
cluster around these two timely thoughts suggested 
by the text: how and why we should prepare for 
dying. 

And, beginning with the lowest suggestion, you 
will observe that our temporal affairs should be ar- 
ranged beforehand The victuals which the Israel- 
ites were commanded to prepare against the passage 
of the Jordan, consisted of the manna which came 
down from heaven, and also those other supplies, of 
whatsoever kind, which they could easily procure in 
the land of plenty where their tents were pitched; 
for they were now occupying the fruitful fields of 
Bashan, ami the still more fruitful fields of Moab and 
Midian were on the borders of their camp. When 
opportunity offered, the people were permitted to pur- 
chase tin- products of the country through which they 
were passing; and doubt less often did so, that they 

And resting here in 



374 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

the plain of Jordan and in the lap of plenty, it is 
more than probable that they gathered in the corn 
and wine and oil of the region round about. 

But most of these provisions had need of much 
preparation before they were good for food. Even 
the bread of heaven did not come down into their 
tents all ready for the table. It fell on the ground 
outside in the night, and in the form of seed. And 
in the morning, "The people went about and gathered 
it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and 
baked it in pans, and made cakes of it." ' And the 
barley, which was now ripe, had to be prepared in 
a similar manner. 

But these supplies, which were necessary for the 
Support of the body, were all temporal things, and as 
such they suggest the first lesson of the text — this 
namely, that our worldly affairs should be properly 
adjusted against the time to die. These are seldom 
as they ought to be when the summons comes, and 
often discompose and distress the departing spirit. 

In visiting the sick, to aid them in their prepara- 
tion for dying, we expect to meet the members of the 
family and the family physician ; but we have some- 
times met the lawyer in the darkened room, and 
helped to hold the patient's trembling hand as he 
signed his name to important papers. And we have 
no hesitation in saying, that all such necessary busi- 
ness should be attended to in the time of health. It 
is not only painful, but positively wicked, to. worry 
the dying with their worldly affairs. But yet it must 
1 Num. xi. 8. 



CROSSING THE JORDAN. 375 

be done sometimes. It must be done only because 
the duty was neglected when it ought to have been 
done. 

There are, doubtless, many here to-day whose busi- 
ness is not in just such a condition as they would like 
to have it, if they should be called suddenly away. 
No, your books are not balanced, your debts are not 
paid, your wills are not written. Indeed, some people 
have a strange prejudice against doing such things as 
this last. They are so superstitious that they think, 
if they should make a will, **' the last enemy " ' would 
come immediately. And if any of you are in such a 
case, let me counsel you to get quit of your ground- 
less forebodings and attend to these duties now, 
"while the evil clays come not." 2 

For your own sake, and for the sake of those whom 
you most love, let all your temporal matters be set 
in order at once. And if you have any bequests to 
make, to the church, or to the charitable or educa- 
tional institutions of the country, let your last will 
ami testament be written now, when there can be no 
debate or doubt about the soundness of your mind 
and memory, nor any danger that the largest part of 
your estate will be spent in endless litigation. 

Again, as a necessary preparation fur dying, we 
should have a personal interest in Christ, who is the 

antidot<- of death. •'.Man shall not live by bread 

alone." 1 The soul needs nourishment as well as the 

body; and Christ is the only food that ean satisfy tin; 

hunger of the beart And the manna was typical of 

1 I Cor. xv. 2G. » Eccl. xii. 1. =» Mat. iv. L 



376 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

Him, as He Himself hath said: "I am the bread of 
life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, 
and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down 
from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. 
I am the living bread which came down from heaven : 
if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever : and 
the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will 
give for the life of the world." 1 

The Israelites remembered with pleasure the per- 
petual miracle of the wilderness, and prided them- 
selves on the fact, that their fathers "did eat angels' 
food." 2 But the manna was not living bread. It did 
not, and could not, preserve the people from death in 
any sense; but the Lord Jesus is emphatically "the 
bread of life." "As the living Father hath sent me, 
and I live by the Father; so he that eateth me, even 
he shall live by me. This is that bread which came 
down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, 
and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live 
forever." 8 

He shall live forever, even though his body may 
turn to dust. The higher spiritual life of the soul, 
which is nourished by the flesh and blood of the Son 
of man, shall never perish. The true heavenly bread, 
of which the manna was the emblem, is soul-quick- 
ening, soul-strengthening, soul-sustaining, and soul- 
satisfying food. And eating of it is not to be under- 
stood either literally or sacramentally, but spiritually; 
for the Saviour was still living, and His last supper 
had not been instituted, when He said, "Except ye 
i John vi. 48-51. * Ps. lxxviii. 25. 3 John vi. 57, 58. 



CROSSING THE JORDAN. 377 

eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, 
ye have no life in you." 1 

It is by faith, and by faith alone, that we are made 
partakers of Christ and His salvation. By the exer- 
cise of this saving grace, we receive and rest upon 
f Jesus only," 2 as He is freely offered to us in the 
gospel. And the immediate result of such a cordial 
reception of our only Redeemer is exemption from 
spiritual and eternal death. And though the body 
must needs return to the earth, as it was, it shall be 
raised up again at the last day: "Jesus said unto 
her, I am the resurrection, and the life; he that be- 
lie veth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 
and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never 
die." 3 

A personal interest in Christ is, therefore, the most 
important thing in preparing to die, if we would pass 
away peacefully and hopefully. Indeed we are not 
prepared to live as we should, till we are born again 
from above, and have for our daily bread "the bread 
of life." But, though we may be able to live without 
Christ, as many do, we can not die with the good 
hope of going to heaven, without a personal interest 
in "our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished 
death, and hath brought life and immortality to light 
through the gospel." 4 

We may be every thing else that is lovely and of 
good report; we may be the best of husbands and 
wives, and fathers and mothers, and brothers and 

1 John vi. 53. * Mat. xvii. 8. 

3 John xi. 25, 26. < II Tim. i. 10. 



378 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

sisters; Ave may be the most upright citizens, and 
greatly distinguished for the amenity of our manners 
and our angelic amiability; — but if we are not "ac- 
cepted in the beloved," 1 if our sins are not blotted 
out "with the precious blood of Christ," 2 and we are 
not sanctified by the blessed Spirit, we are not, and 
we can not be, prepared to die. " Marvel not that I 
said unto thee, Ye must be born again." 3 

We remark, further, that in order to be prepared 
against the time of our departure, we should have a 
goodly number of the promises stored away in our 
hearts and minds. The whole Bible is the bread of 
life, like Him Avho is at once its author and its sub- 
ject. Jesus is the burden of every book, the chief 
end of every chapter, and the substance of all the 
shadows. "The bright and morning star" 4 is the 
central sun round which revelation revolves. But 
whilst the Scriptures are the glass in which we see 
the glory of the Lord, and were written to reflect 
His image more perfectly, they also delight us by 
the visions, and offers of spiritual food, so varied and 
abundant as to meet our every need. 

Here we have the sincere milk for babes in Christ, 
apples of comfort for the sick, savory meat for those 
who are ready to perish, and the best of "wine which 
cheereth God and man." 5 For the endless changes 
of Christian experience there is in the gospel a word 
in season; and there are times when nothing tastes 
so good as the book of God: "Thy words were found, 

i Eph. i. 6. 2 1 Pet. i. 19. s John iii. 7. 

^ Rev. xxii. 16. » Judges ix. 13. 



CROSSING THE JORDAN. 379 

and I did eat them ; and thy word -was unto me the 
joy and rejoicing of mine heart," 1 And if we may 
prize one portion of inspiration above another, we 
would select the "exceeding great and precious prom- 
ises," because they are the "finest of the wheat"; 2 
" More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than 
much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the 
honeycomb." 3 " How precious also are thy thoughts 
unto me, God ! how great is the sum of them ! " * 

They are greater and more precious than we are 
aware till the set time comes for them to manifest 
their unspeakable power and inestimable value. They 
were the stone steps by which Christian might have 
passed safely through the Slough of Despond, if he 
had taken heed thereunto. One of them was the key 
which he carried in his bosom, with which he un- 
locked the doors in Doubting Castle, and so made his 
escape from the keep of Giant Despair. They are 
th<- hired servants of my Father, sent down from 
heaven to work on the narrow way. I have often 
Been them; I can see them now, like laboring men 
bending to their task and breaking the big stones, 
making the rough places smooth, the crooked places 
straight, and with the light of their lamps illuminat- 
ing all the dark valleys. 

And, in regard of having these precious promises 
stored away in our hearts and minds, Ave might learn 
a lesson from the -Jews, who took special pains to 
keep the words of the law continually before them : 

1 Jer. xv. 16. J Ps. cxlvii. 14. 

a Ps. xix. 10. * Ps. exxxix. 17. 



3 SO BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

" Thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, 
and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes: 
and thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy 
house, and on thy gates." 1 In literal obedience to 
this commandment, the Hebrews actually inscribed 
particular passages of Scripture upon parchment, and 
wore them on their arms and foreheads. They also 
fastened other passages on their door-posts, and never 
went in or out of their dwellings without stopping to 
kiss the sacred scroll. 

And to us there is something beautifully touching 
and instructive in their keeping the words of God so 
constantly before their minds. Nor can we wonder 
that these soon came to be regarded as protecting 
them from evil, and for this reason were afterwards 
called phylacteries. Perhaps in their personal experi- 
ence they had learned something of the power of 
God's word in preserving them from harm, and shield- 
ing them in the time of danger. But whether they 
had or not, we know of a truth that it is our best 
body-guard: "When thoU goest, it shall lead thee; 
when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when 
thou awakest, it shall talk with thee." 2 One of the 
very Scriptures which the Jews kept so continually 
before them was the sword of the Spirit with which 
Jesus Himself worsted the tempter, "Get thee behind 
me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the 
Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve." 3 

Besides, many of the promises were written, as it 
would seem, expressly for the time to die: "When 
i Deut. vi. 8, 9. * Prov. vi. 22. =* Luke iv. 8. 



CROSSING THE JORDAN. 38 1 

thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee ; 
and through the rivers they shall not overflow thee : 
when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not 
be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee." 1 
"Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; 
for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will 
help thee : yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand 
of my righteousness." 2 "In the way of righteousness 
is life; and in the pathway thereof there is no death."' 3 

In making preparation for the time of our depart- 
ure, these promises, so sweet and precious, and others 
like them, should be committed to memory, that we 
may have them ready against the great emergency. 
During the last days of our sojourn here, the eye may 
be so dim that it will not be able to read them in the 
shadow of death; and the swellings of Jordan may 
make the ear so dull, that it will not be able to hear 
them read; and if we do nut have them graven in the 
mind for the greatest time of need, no tongue can tell 
how much we will miss their comforting and sustain- 
in-- power. 

We would observe farther, that, to be prepared for 
death, it should be made the subject of much medita- 
tion. And here, lor our instruction and imitation, let 
us cull to mind the interesting fact, that when the 
children of Israel came to the valley of the Jordan, 
they encamped there for nearly a whole year. God 

kept His people- Waiting there, by tllC I >l'i 1 1 lc of tile 

river, several months before crossing to the other 

side; and, as it appears to US, of a set purpose that 

> Isa. xliii. 2. * Lsa. xli. 10, 11. a prov. xii. 28. 



382 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

their thoughts might often be on the passage of that 
turbulent stream, and about the good land beyond 
to which they were going. 

With every rising sun they could see the gleaming 
waters of the river on the right hand and on the left ; 
and day and night, without ceasing, they could hear 
the noise of its waves as they went rushing by. And 
as it was just after the rainy season, when they re- 
ceived the command to make ready to pass over into 
the land of promise, and the banks of the stream 
were submerged, they must have mused in their own 
minds, and perhaps also they spoke often to one 
another, saying: How shall we be able to ford the 
Jordan now? Such a thing seems quite impossible 
at present; and, having neither bridge nor pontoon, 
it would be downright madness to make the vain 
attempt to cross over. Indeed the strongest swim- 
mer could scarcely hope to make the other side in 
safety: "for Jordan overfloweth all his banks. all the 
time of harvest," 1 

And as the peculiar people were halted on the 
hither side of Jordan for a long time, so are some 
of us, and that too, as we believe, in order that we 
may have time for reflection, and a fitting opportu- 
nity to make the crossing the theme of much medita- 
tion. We have known many of the Israelites indeed 
whose tents were pitched on the brink of the dark 
river for several years; and, by the grace of God, 
these were the pleasantest years of their lives. And 
though, at the first, the sight and the sound of the 
1 Josh. iii. 15. 



CROSSING THE JORDAN. 383 

swelling stream made them fear and tremble; yet, 
after awhile, they would talk about their dying- as 
calmly as they would converse about the commonest 
duties of the day. They became so familiar with the 
face of the " last enemy " that he seemed more like 
a dear friend. They entertained no fears that their 
faith would fail ; they experienced no doubts concern- 
ing the promise, "as thy days, so shall thy strength 
be." ' " Perfecting holiness in the fear of God," 2 they 
conqiiered death by taking away his sting; and before 
they went over into the " better country," the house 
of their pilgrimage seemed to be pitched on the other 
side of the swelling flood ; and as the Lamb was the 
light and joy and glory of their "little sanctuary," 3 it 
was nothing less than a very heaven upon the earth; 
where they heard the first notes of the new song, and 
saw the beginning of the beatific vision. 

And in regard of ourselves, as Ave can not tell how 
long we may be permitted to tarry in the plain of 
Jordan, we ought to begin at once to think about the 
t i in'- of our departure. Nor need any fear that fre- 
qtt'iit meditation about dying will make them melan- 
clii.lv, and unfit them for the active duties of life. On 
the contrary, it will make them happier far, and far 
more QaefttL We have read somewhere of a wicked 
young man who received from a friend the present 
of a curiously wrought ring, with a death's head in its 
seal, upon condition that he would wear it, and look 
at it every day. He accepted the gift carelessly, but 
perforated tin- condition faithfully; and as he looked 

1 Deut. xxxiii. 25. « II Cor. vii. 1. 3 Ezek. xi. 16. 



3S4 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

at that ring every morning, the sight of his eyes so 
affected his heart that he soon became an earnest and 
devoted Christian. The frequent thought of death, 
and its shadow abiding always on his hand, was 
blessed to the salvation of his soul. 

It is the custom of the Chinese to keep their coffins 
in their houses where they can be often seen. The 
ancient Egyptians, at all their feasts, served their 
guests with some part of a skeleton to put them in 
mind of their mortality. And, on the day of his coro- 
nation, one of the emperors of Constantinople, among 
other gifts of great value, received the present of a 
gravestone, to remind him of the coming day when 
the crown would be taken from his head. 

And, in the midst of life and health, it would be 
good for us if we would often think of that decisive 
hour that will finish our discipline and fix our des- 
tiny; striving, as much as we may be able, to realize 
our last passage, and surrounding ourselves with the 
scenes of our last moments. Joseph of Arimathea 
built his sepulchre in his garden, in the midst of his 
most familiar delights; and perhaps the frequent sight 
of " his long home " 1 helped to make him the good 
and just man and devoted Christian that he was. 
And it would be well for us, if every time we went 
out to gather sweet flowers we could see our grave ; 
for we are thoroughly convinced that much medita- 
tion about death will help to soften it down, and take 
away its sting. 

Or, better still, we might set apart some day, it 
1 Eccl. xii. 5. 



CROSSING THE JORDAN. 385 

might be our birthday, or the day of our spiritual birth, 
and spend it as if it were our last day. This would 
make death a beautiful, a comforting-, and a welcome 
theme. And so, living with the time of our depart- 
ure always in view, we would " die daily " ; ' and, 
when the last change came, we would have nothing- 
else to do but to lean our weary head on the bosom 
of our Beloved, and breathe our life out sweetly there. 

Our subject is of unspeakable importance to all; 
and we trust that, by the blessing of God, we may- 
be able to drive a nail on which some of you may be 
persuaded to hang a hope of heaven. We will not 
say that you must die, for you are dying now; and 
are you ready for the great change ? There are not 
many who finish their life work before their life is 
ended, and instead of leaving the world, and going 
to the grave, they are driven out of the one into the 
other: "the wicked is driven away in his wickedness." 4 

Beloved out of Christ, how would it be with you, 
if you were summoned to the judgment seat to-day ? 
Are you ready for the reckoning? If you are not, 
we counsel you to give neither sleep to your eyes nor 
dumber to your eyelids, till you have made your 
peace Avith God. "Will my case be called to-day?" 
said a client, to his advocate, with the greatest ear- 
nestness, having heard that the lord chancellor's de- 
cision KTB& expected. "Are you sure," was his anxious 
inquiry, "that nothing is left undone? If judgment is 
pronounced against me, I am a ruined man." Dearly 
beloved and longed-for, if your case should be called 
' I Cor. xv. 31. * Prov. xiv. 32. 



386 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

to-day, before the Judge of all, are you ready ? Are 
you sure that nothing is left undone ? 

Having dwelt long enough on the necessary prep- 
arations for the passage of the dark river, we are 
coming now to consider the reasons why they should 
be made at once. 

And, beginning with the most obvious of these, you 
will remark, that we ought to set the house in order, 
because death is sure to come: "Ye shall pass over 
this Jordan." In regard of the children of Israel, 
there seems to have been no absolute necessity for 
crossing the river at all, in order to enter the prom- 
ised land ; for as the whole eastern bank of the stream 
was in their possession, they might have marched 
northward toward its source, where the river is a 
mere brook, and offers no obstacle to crossing, even 
in the time of harvest; or, turning to the left hand, 
they might have rounded the Dead Sea into which 
it empties, and entere^ Canaan from the south. But 
God was guiding His chosen people, in His own 
chosen way; and it was His plan that they should 
cross the Jordan, at the time when, and in the place 
where, it seemed to be impassable: "He led them 
forth by the right way." * 

Whether it is possible for us to reach heaven with- 
out tasting death, is not to be considered here. It is 
enough for us to know that, according to God's good 
pleasure, "It is appointed unto men once to die;" 2 
and this universal appointment we can not escape. 
If by any means we could enter the land of pure 
» Ps. cvii. 7. 2 Heb. ix. 27. 



CROSSING THE JORDAN. 387 

delight without fording the dark river, we might 
neglect, with impunity, the necessary preparations 
for its passage; but we can not expect to avoid it 
in any way; and all men everywhere must struggle 
in the swelling stream. The path of poverty, the 
path of usefulness, and the path of honor all alike 
terminate in the plain of .Jordan. In the God-planted 
garden of Eden, the sentence of death was pronounced 
on the whole human race. So, then, death is not the 
debt of nature, as it is commonly called; it is rather the 
debt of sin, and every man must pay it: " By one man 
sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so 
death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." 1 
From the beginning of the world, only two of the 
many millions of mankind have passed from earth to 
heaven without suffering the execution of the uni- 
versal sentence upon themselves. "By faith Enoch 
was translated that he should not see death ; and was 
not found, because God had translated him : for before 
his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased 
God." 2 And when Elijah, the greatest of the proph- 
ets, was taking his last walk with Elisha, they came 
down to the Jordan: "And Elijah took his mantle 
and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and 
they were divided hither and thither, so that they two 
.went over on dry ground. And it came to pass, as 
they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there 
appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and 
parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by 
a whirlwind into heaven."* 

1 Bom. v. 12. 2 Heb. xi. 5. 3 II Kings ii. 8-11. 



388 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

These two great saintSj Enoch and Elijah, are the 
only twain, in the whole history of the world, who 
never tasted death. All the rest of the race have 
died, and all the rest of the race must surely die, save 
those saints who may be living at the time of the 
second advent. " For the Lord Himself shall descend 
from heaven Avith a shout, with the voice of the arch- 
angel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in 
Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and 
remain shall be caught up together with them in the 
clouds, to meet the Lord in the air." 1 And, unless 
our lives shall be prolonged till we shall see the sign 
of the Son of man coming in the clouds, we should 
expect to die : " For we must needs die, and are as 
water spilt on the ground, which can not be gathered 
up again: neither doth God respect any person; yet 
doth He devise means, that His banished be not ex- 
pelled from Him." 2 

From the universal sentence of death, there is no 
exception, no exemption, no escape. "There is no. 
discharge in that war"; 3 none for greatness, none for 
goodness, none for glory. Other foes may be bribed 
with riches, soothed with flattery, or melted with 
tears : but the last enemy is impartial, implacable, 
and inexorable; neither the charms of beauty, nor 
the power of wealth, nor the appeal of woe, can avail 
any thing with him : 

" With equal pace impartial fate 
Knocks at the palace and the cottage gate." 

» I Thess. iv. 16, 17. 2 II Sam. xiv. 14. s EccL viii. 8. 



CROSSING THE JORDAN. 389 

The monarch must be taken from his throne ; the 
merchant from the exchange; and the man of letters 
from his books. The rich man in gay clothing, the 
poor man in vile raiment, and the foolish man in his 
folly, — who can not tell his right hand from his left, 
— all alike must tread the verge of Jordan. " Do not 
all go to one place?" 1 

It should be observed, farther, that we ought to 
make suitable preparation for the last stage of our 
weary earth-way, because the time of death is so un- 
certain. "When the ancient people of God were all 
encamped on the bank of the Jordan, and received 
the command to prepare for the passage, the time for 
crossing Avas not precisely stated: "within three days 
ye shall pass over." They did not know exactly when 
the silver trumpet would sound, calling them to strike 
their tents and fall in line for their last march. It 
might be blown the third day, or the second day, or 
the self- same day the order Avas issued. Doubtless 
Joshua himself did not Iciioav, as yet, the set time for 
fording the river. 

Neither can Ave tell the exact time of our depart- 
ure; for though there is nothing so certain as death, 
there is also nothing so uncertain as the time to die. 
In tin- ordinary course of nature, Ave expect to see 
old and gray-headed people passing aAvay; but Ave 
oftener see the young A^anishing from our vieAV. The 
time once Avas when parents and grandparents gen- 
erally preceded their children, and their children's 
children to the tomb; but now, for the most part, 
' Eccl. vi. G. 



390 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

the children are taken first. Yes, the tender blade 
is oftener cut down, than the shock of corn fully ripe ; 
and not unfrequently we see strong men, like Samson, 
perishing in the prime of life. There is no security 
against death ; there can be none. " The voice said, 
Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is 
grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower 
of the field: the grass withereth, the flower fadeth; 
because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely 
the people is grass." 1 

There is hardly one person in a hundred who reaches 
the Scripture limit of " threescore years and ten ; " 2 
whilst more than half the human race "die in the 
flower of their age," 3 long before they have numbered 
half a score of years. " One dieth in his full strength, 
being wholly at ease and quiet. His breasts are full 
of milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow. 
And another dieth in the bitterness of his soul, and 
never eateth with any pleasure. They shall lie down 
alike in the dust, and the worms shall cover them." 4 
Without respect of persons, the remorseless reaper is 
always busy gathering into the grave his plentiful 
harvest of human flesh; and the spring and the sum- 
mer are both alike to him. "To every thing there 
is a season ; " 5 — to every thing but death. 

"Leaves have their time to fall, 

And flowers to wither at the north wind's breath, 
And stars to set — but all 
Thou hast, all seasons for thine own, Death." 

i Isa. xl. 6, 7. 2 Ps. xc. 10. 3 I Sam. ii. 33. 

* Job xxi. 23-25. 6 Eccl. iii. 1. 



CROSSING THE JORDAN. 39 1 

There are here present, probably, those who have 
left at home dear friends "who are wasting away on 
beds of languishing. For many months, perhaps, they 
have not been well enough to come with yon to this 
house of prayer, and they seem to have but a short 
time to live. A few more days, at most, and "the 
golden bowl" will be broken, or "the pitcher" at the 
fountain, or "the wheel" 1 at the cistern; but yet, you 
may be taken first. Health and strength are no secu- 
rity against death, and this Sabbath may be your 
last Sabbath. It may be my last Sabbath. We may 
never again unite our hearts and voices in the prayers 
and songs of Zion. This present service may be the 
very last which we shall ever enjoy on the earth; and 
we may be preaching and hearing our last sermon. 
Nay, more, this Sabbath day may be our last day. 
Our pilgrimage may be ended before the morrow is 
begun, and we may go from this house of God to "the 
house appointed for all living." 1 

"Art is long, and time is fleeting, 

And our hearts, though stout and brave, 
Still like muffled drums are beating 
Funeral marches to the grave." 

It may be suggested, in the next place, that we 
sin »ul. 1 make all needful preparations for death, be- 
cause the last moment may come soon. Though the 
time for the Israelites to cross the river was uncer- 
tain, still it was not far distant. It was "within three 
days." It mighl l»<- the same day when the command 
was given to prepare their provisions for the passage, 
' Eccl. xii. 6. J Job xxx. 23. 



392 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

or it might be the next day; but it could not be fur- 
ther off' than the day following; for then surely their 
tents must be struck, and the last stage of their jour- 
ney commenced. 

And from the moment that they listened to the 
order of their leader, we can not help thinking, the 
mighty multitude must have been most busy in mak- 
ing their preparations, because now the time for cross- 
ing was so near, and nearer perhaps than they sup- 
posed. Straightway, all was anxiety and activity 
within their lines. Foraging expeditions were going 
out in every direction, and coming again bringing 
their sheaves with them. Threshing-floors were ex- 
temporized on every little hill, and the unmuzzled 
oxen were treading out the corn. The old men and 
children were gathering up the manna in great haste ; 
and day and night, without ceasing, the sound of 
their mills and mortars was heard, as the young men 
and maidens were grinding it for food. All were 
busy, and the little while, at longest, which they had 
to prepare, made them all the more anxious to im- 
prove every passing hour; and, doubtless, before the 
three days were ended all things were ready. 

And it would be well for us if we would copy their 
example: "Be ye also ready; for in such an hour as 
ye think not the Son of man cometh." 1 Did any body 
say, "I will prepare to-morrow"? "Boast not thy- 
self of to-morrow ; for thou knowest not what a day 
may bring forth."* You remember the rich man in 
the gospel, whose ground brought forth so pentifully 
1 Mat. xxiv. 44. 2 Prov. xxvii. 1. 



CROSSING THE JORDAN. 393 

that he proposed to pull down his barns and build 
greater, and say to himself, " Soul, thou hast much 
goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, 
drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou 
fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee." 1 
Nay, death may not be so far distant as the setting 
sun. The small number of our years, and our perfect 
health, may give us the promise of a long life; but 
yet it may prove the shortest. Even in our best 
estate, we are altogether vanity. A morning mist, 
the flower of grass, and the swift ships, — these are 
the Scripture images of our life. And a step, a span, 
a moment, — these are its Scripture measures: "Truly 
as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is but 
a step between me and death;" 2 and the next set- 
ting down of the foot may be in the chilling stream. 
With what haste then, and zeal, and earnestness, 
and unwearying activity, should we give ourselves 
to the needful work of getting ready for the great 
emergency; doubling our diligence, redeeming the 
time, an' I doing with our might what our hands 
find to do, "and so much the more, as ye see the day 
approaching." 3 

It is necessary to observe, finally, that we should 
make immediate preparation for fording the dark 
waters, because dying will be work enough, without 
having any thing else to do. When viewed in most 
of its various aspects, death is a very dreadful thing, 
and the awfulest moment of our life is when we be- 
gin to ieel thai our days are few. The mere thought 
' Luke xii. 19, 20. « I Sam. xx. 3. » Heb. x. 25. 



394 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

of dying has often unmanned the stoutest hearts; 
and even the best of God's believing people have 
not been able to meet the issue with perfect com- 
posure. The painful putting asunder of the soul and 
the body and the consigning of this last to its orig- 
inal elements — dust to dust, ashes to ashes, earth to 
earth — is so unnatural and evil and bitter that we 
shrink back from it in dismay. And we can not 
help doing so, for we were not made for such an 
ignominious end. 

And then, sorer still, the parting from dear friends 
and kindred, who are bound to us with ties that are 
softer than silk and stronger than iron, this is some- 
thing that goes hard against the grain of the holiest 
heart, and fills the mind with unutterable anguish. 
Besides, the time to die is often the time of sick- 
ness, which is distressing, and sometimes distract- 
ing too. And when wearisome nights are appointed 
to us, and we are full of tossings to and fro, and pain 
is piercing in every part, like a thorn in the flesh — 
is that the time to prepare to die ? When the body is 
weakened with disease, and the mind is wandering — 
is that the time to make our calling and election sure? 

In ministering to those who were sick unto death, 
we have often heard them express the opinion that 
the dying bed is no place to prepare for death. And 
we have had abundant evidence of the truth of this 
faithful saying in the experience of some who had 
neglected the claims of religion till the time of their 
departure was at hand. Even in the time of health 
and strength, it is no easy thing to repent of sin, and 



CROSSING THE JORDAN 395 

crucify the old man, and resist the devil, and become 
an earnest Christian ; and when we have neither of 
these, and the mind and body are both enfeebled by 
disease, it is next to impossible. 

" If only you could go with your minister in his 
visits to the sick, and be introduced to one poor 
sufferer after another, you would be thoroughly con- 
vinced of the truth of what we say ; for whether the 
patient manifested the wildness of fever, or the ex- 
haustion of consumption, or the anguish of some 
deep-seated pain, the same lesson would be merci- 
fully delivered: the lesson that, whilst the earthly 
house of this tabernacle is being taken down, there is 
the least possible ability of laboring after an entrance 
into the heavenly inheritance. And if, by the prog- 
ress of disease, the last hours of life are wrested from 
the dying man's control, that which was so difficult 
becomes quite impossible; and, deprived of reason, he 
passes into eternity, to find out what a fearful thing 
it is to fall into the hands of a living God." 

Suppose, for a moment, that the Hebrews had neg- 
Iccti.-d to ol.cy the order in the text; would it have 
been possible for them to pitch their tents in the 
middle of the river, and kindle their camp fires in 
tin- swellings of Jordan, and prepare for the passage, 
when they were making the passage? So, it may 
not In: possible for you to prepare for dying, when 
the time of" your departure is at hand; and, therefore, 
the message comes to you with all the more force, 
"Prepare to meet thy God." 1 Delay no longer this 
1 Amos iv. 12. 



396 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

most important of all life's duties, but "Acquaint now 
thyself with Him and be at peace." 1 

Our sermon is now ended, but Ave must be allowed 
to add, b}^ way of application, that it brings abundant 
encouragement to every son and daughter of the Lord 
Almighty. As we have already intimated, death is 
often dreadful enough even to the Christian. But 
if only you Avill prepare for it, as we have recom- 
mended, its dreadfulness will depart. In the epistle 
to the Hebrews we read of some, " Who through fear 
of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." 1 
And among the saints of the present generation we 
meet with many whose bright days are all darkened 
by "the shadows of the evening." 3 Perhaps, indeed, I 
speak to some of these fearing disciples, and for your 
special comfort I would remind you, that God is often 
better to His people than their fears. 

It is more than probable that the children of Israel 
entertained many and great fears concerning the pas- 
sage of the Jordan. But, behold what God did for 
them ! It was the next day after the order of the 
text was issued that Joshua issued another, saying, 
" Sanctify yourselves : for to-morrow the Lord will do 
wonders among you." 4 To-morrow soon came, and 
early in the morning there were strange movements 
in the Hebrew camp. The tents were all struck; the 
Tabernacle was taken down ; the banners Avere lifted 
up; and the twelve tribes were harnessed and dis- 
in their usual marching order. 

' Job xxii. 21. 2 Heb. ii. 15. 

3 Jer. vi. 4. * Josh. iii. 5. 



CROSSING THE JORDAN. 397 

But where are they going? Have they given up 
all hope of crossing the river, and are they about to 
retire to the wilderness, in which they had wandered 
so long? Have they heard the sad tidings that the 
giant "sons of Anak" 1 are coming down upon them 
from the north country? and are they making haste 
to get out of the way of these men of "great stature"? 
Many causes might be imagined for the strange com- 
motion in their camp; but the truth soon appears, as 
"The ark of the covenant" is seen moving slowly 
towards the river. The priests, bearing their blessed 
burden, marched with measured steps, and great sol- 
emnity, straight into the rushing stream, and just as 
soon as their feet "were dipped in the brim of the 
water," 2 the waters clave to the other shore. "And 
the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the 
Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, 
and all the Israelites passed over 611 dry ground, until 
all the people were passed clean over Jordan." 3 

And, beloved in the Lord, if only you will lay hold 
of the Saviour's strength, and cast yourselves entirely 
on His kind arms, with His dying grace He will do 
wonders for you in the dying hour. A great trem- 
bling may come upon you when you think of going 
down to tread the verge of Jordan : " For ye have not 
passed this way heretofore." 4 But Jesus has; and 
yon sh.ill si,. His footprints along the shore. "He 
knoweth all the fords," and will be your guide unto 
death and through death. And by His presence and 

1 Num. liii. 33. 2 Josh. iii. 15. 

* Josh. iii. 17. * Josh. iii. 4. 



398 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

blessing jour passage of the dark waters shall be as 
pleasant as that of the pilgrims at the close of their 
progress. 

"Now I shall have no more need of these crutches, 
since yonder are chariots and horses for me to ride 
on," said the lame man whom Bunyan calls Mr. Keady- 
to-halt; and he left them on this side of the river. 
The last words of Mr. Despondency were, " Farewell, 
night ! Welcome, day ! " Miss Much - Afraid went 
" singing " through the swellings of Jordan. And 
when Mr. Standfast was about half way over, he 
stood awhile and talked on this wise to those who 
had waited on him thither, "This river has been a 
terror to many; yea, the thoughts of it also have 
frightened me: now, methinks, I stand easy; my foot 
is fixed upon that on which the feet of the priests 
that bare the ark of the covenant stood, while Israel 
went over Jordan. The waters, indeed, are to the pal- 
ate bitter, and to the stomach cold; yet the thoughts 
of what I am going to, and of the conduct that waits 
for me on the other side, doth lie as a glowing coal 
at my heart. I see myself now at the end of my 
journey: my toilsome days are ended. I am going 
to see that head that was crowned with thorns, and 
that face that was spit upon for me. I have formerly 
lived by hearsay and faith; but now I go where I 
shall live by sight, and shall be with Him in whose 
company I delight myself. I have loved to hear my 
Lord spoken of; and wherever I have seen the print 
of His shoe in the earth, there I have coveted to set 
my foot too. His name has been to me as a civet- 



CROSSING THE JORDAN. 399 

box; yea, sweeter than all perfumes. His voice to 
me has been most sweet; and His countenance I have 
more desired than they that have most desired the 
light of the sun. His words I did use to gather for 
my food, and for antidotes against my faintings. He 
has held me, and hath kept me from mine iniquities ; 
yea, my steps have been strengthened in His way." 

"Now, while he was thus in discourse, his counte- 
nance changed; his strong men bowed under him: 
and after he had said, 'Take me, for I come unto 
thee,' he ceased to be seen of them." 

'•But glorious it was to see, how the open region 
was filled with horses and chariots, with trumpeters 
and pipers, with singers and players on stringed in- 
struments, to welcome the pilgrims as they went up, 
and followed one another in at the beautiful gate of 
the oily." 

Believing that there are some here present who 
have made no preparation for dying, we can not close 
without a word in season to them. And, beloved out 
of Christ, what shall Ave say to you? If what wo 
have already said has made no impression on your 
minds, what shall we more say? In a little while 
you, t<><p. must go down into the dark waters; and 
wli.it will you do then, if you have no personal inter- 
est in Christ V 

Perhaps, already in the time of "pining sickness," 1 

you have had some faint foretoken of what it will be 

I" <li<'. And. if tin- shaking of the tabernacle proved 

greater than you could bear, how will you endure the 

1 Isa. xxxviii. 12. 



40O BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

dissolution of the earthly house? If you could not 
cross with composure the shallow stream of some 
slight indisposition, how will you be able to ford the 
deep river, where Christian was almost drowned? 
"If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have 
wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with 
horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou 
trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do 
in the swelling of Jordan ? " ' 

It is often the most difficult thing for God's dearest 
people to die. They come doAvn fearing and trem- 
bling to the bank of the river, and launch away, hop- 
ing against hope. And now sinking, and then rising, 
and always struggling, they just make the shining 
shore: "And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where 
shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?" 3 Have 
you not heard, have you not read, and do you not 
know, that the river Jordan empties into the Dead 
Sea — that only earthly image of the second death ? 
And may I not remind you, here and now, that if you 
fail to reach the heavenward side of the darker river 
towards Avhich your feet are tending, you will be car- 
ried swiftly down with the raging flood, and cast 
away "in the lake which burnetii with fire and brim- 
stone: which is the second death." 3 

What ! can it be possible that some of you have 
made no preparation for dying. Liable at any mo- 
ment to be called to cross the swelling stream, and 
yet, you have neither staff, nor scrip, nor provisions 
for the passage. And how can you expect to reach 
i Jer. xii. 5. 21 p e t. iv. 18. 3 R ev . xxi. 8. 



CROSSING THE JORDAN. 4OI 

the other side in safety? But if you are awakened, 
you need not despair; if you are anxious, you may 
have hope: for Jesus, our Joshua, is standing here to- 
day, with open, outstretched arms, calling you to 
come to Him. Hear how tenderly He pleads with 
you ! " Come unto me, all ye that labor and are 
heavy laden, and I will give you rest." 1 Come now; 
time is precious ; time is passing, and in a little while 
time shall be no longer. 

"We have read somewhere of a little child who was 
pleasantly and peacefully passing over Jordan. Kin- 
dred and kind friends were gathered round her dying 
couch waiting upon her, and anticipating every want. 
Her eye was growing dim, and she could scarcely see. 
Her ear was growing dull, and she could scarcely 
hear. Her tongue was cleaving to the roof of her 
mouth, and could hardly do its office any more: for 
she could only speak at long intervals, and in the 
lowest whisper. 

Noticing that her lips wei-e moving, a member of 
the family leaned over and listened, if perchance her 
dying words might be heard, and garnered up. In a 
soft, sweet, still, small voice she said, " Lift me higher." 
Her loving mother made haste to put a pillow under 
her head. But still she kept on saying the same 
thing: "Lift me higher;" and with gentle hands they 
raised her up, and pressed another pillow under her 
should < >ra 

Perceiving now that she was misunderstood, she 
stretched out her pale, thin hand and pointed upward, 
' Mat. xi. 28. 



402 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

saying, "No, no, not that, but there! lift me higher! " 
Then they knew that she was talking not to them 
down here, but to Jesus in heaven; and so praying, 
she vanished from their view. And on her grave- 
stone there is, first of all, the image of her pure white 
hand pointing upward, then her name and age, and 
then these words, " Lifted higher." 

Dearly beloved, when soon or late your dying feet 
shall touch the dark waters, may your experience be 
like hers; and when your ear can not hear it, may 
this be your eulogy; when your eye can not see it, 
may this be your epitaph, " Lifted higher." 

"The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: the Lord 
make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto 
thee: the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, 
and give thee peace." 



OUR HEAVENLY HOME. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

"In my Father's house are many mansions." — John xiv. 2. 

HOME, mother, Jesus, and heaven, are the sweet- 
est words in human language. And in all 
this congregation, as we fondly think, there can not 
be found one whose heart will not respond most 
heartily to our faithful and true saying, concerning 
these best and ever blessed words, — home, mother, 
Jesus, and heaven. 

A mother at home makes home so sweet; her liv- 
ing presence is brighter than the brightest sunshine 
in the shadiest place of sorrow; and to her loving 
smile the father's house is indebted^for more than 
half of its happiness. And a mother in heaven makes 
heaven more homelike, and more to be desired; while 
a whole family in heaven, sitting at the feet of Jesus, 
were enough to double its unspeakable joys. 

It would be pleasant and profitable to contemplate 
heaven, as the Lamb -lit city, and the life - watered 
Paradise; but it will be more pleasant and more prof- 
itable to consider it as our Father's house and future 
home; for such it truly is, and actually will be if Ave 
are His children. It brings heaven nearer, and ren- 
ders it dearer to our hearts, when our Elder Brother 
speaks about it after this manner: "In my Father's 
house arc many mansions." 



406 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

All that is precious in the recollection of our earthly 
father's house, all that is sweet in the remembrance 
of that home — a word so musical in its sound, and 
so big with blessed meaning — is here summoned by 
the Saviour to express the blessedness of that heaven 
from which He came and to which He was going, 
and which will one day be the habitation and the 
happiness of every follower of Jesus: "In my Fa- 
ther's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I 
would have told you. I go to prepare a place for 
you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will 
come again, and receive you unto myself; that where 
I am, there ye may be also." ' 

My father's house, your father's house, our father's 
house, how much like home it makes our heaven 
seem! When we think of God as God, "the high 
and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name 
is Holy," 2 a dreadful feeling comes over us. "When 
I consider, I am afraid of Him." 3 And as we come 
troubled and trembling to His presence, we can almost 
hear Him saying, "Draw not nigh hither: put off thy 
shoes from off thy feet: for the place whereon thou 
standest is holy ground." 4 But when we think of 
Him as our Father, — knowing the tenderness of a 
father's heart, having seen the tear standing in a 
father's eye, and the kind words of welcome quiver- 
ing on his lip, — the dreadful feeling flies away, and 
we begin to love Him : " There is no fear in love ; 
but perfect love casteth out fear." 5 

1 John xiv. 2, 3. 2 Isa. lvii. 15. 3 Job xxiii. 15. 

* Exo<L iii. 5. * I John iv. 18. 



OUR HEAVENLY HOME. 407 

So, when we think of heaven as heaven, that pure 
and holy place where " the king eternal, immortal, 
invisible, the only wise God," 1 is "dwelling in the 
light which no man can approach unto," 2 we are 
overwhelmed and oppressed with the tormenting 
thought that we shall never be able to reach "the 
land that is very far off." 3 As we strive to climb 
that way, the better country seems to recede fur- 
ther from our sinful selves, as the stars appear to fly 
away from the traveller who is ascending the Andes. 
"Such knowledge is too wonderful for me: it is high, 
I can not attain unto it." 4 But when we think of 
heaven as our Father's house, and the dear home to 
which our* best brother Jesus went, when He went 
away, it brings it down from its inaccessible height, 
and draws it so near to us that there is but a step 
between its threshold and our pilgrim feet. 

And when the stranger feeling comes over us in this 
strange land, it is no wonder that we become so home- 
sick that, like Paul, we are in a "strait betwixt two, 
having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ, 
which is far better." 5 Our eyes are often turned 
towards heaven, and, in the "time to mourn," our 
hearts are like to break with the longing they have 
to be at home. Not long ago, at the landing by the 
river-side, we saw a company of emigrants with their 
boxes and bundles. The little children were gathered 
a urn nd a big iron-bound chest, which had the look of 
a fur country, and the smell of the sea. This chest 

1 I Tim. i. 17. 2 I Tim. vi. 16. 3 Isa. xxxiii. 17. 
* Ps. cxxxix. C- » Phil. i. 23. 



40S BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

served tliem for a table, and was furnished with just 
one loaf of bread, and a cup of cold water. While 
the sorrowful mother waited on her beloved offspring, 
now and then she drew the corner of her apron across 
her eyes, thinking, doubtless, about that far away fa- 
ther's house that lay so heavy on her heart. It would 
have been better for her every way, if she could have 
forgotten the sweet home she left beyond the sea, and 
addressed herself to the duty of making another in 
this better country. 

But in regard to the Christian homesick for heaven, 
it would be better for him, more and more, to think 
about it: to make it his meditation all the day, and 
when waking in the watches of the night. By doing 
so, he would become more homesick, it is true; but, 
at the same time, he would become more happy, and 
more heavenly-minded, till at last, with wings like a 
dove, he would fiy away and be at rest. 

And be at rest. To many people the rest of heaven 
is its chief attraction. The working man, as bending 
to his task, the sweat of sorrow bursts upon his face; 
the sick man stretched, as it would seem to be, upon 
a bed of thorns, and tossed to and fro with a burning 
fever; and the man of mental labor, who earns his 
bread by the sweat of his brain, — all these think of 
heaven as a place of rest: rest from toil, rest from 
care, rest from pain. Now all this heaven is and 
more abundantly. It is a home rest. The tired trav- 
eller may rest very well at the tavern, and the «ick 
man may rest at the hospital; but rest at home is 
tho sweetest rest. The weary-footed wayfaring man 



OUR HEAVENLY HOME. 409 

never rests so well, nor sleeps so soundly, as in his 
father's house. And who does not know that the 
aching head never lies so softly as on the pillow 
smoothed by a mother's hand. 

Home is that sweet and holy place where the soul 
lives and loves and lingers, refusing ever to depart; 
and to which it often brings the absent body back 
with willing and elated feet. The tenderest associ- 
ations, the purest joys, the brightest hopes, and the 
dearest memories cluster round that dwelling-place 
of so many delights, compared with which, all other 
abodes are cold and comfortless. It has ties softer 
than silk, and stronger than iron, with which the 
members of the family are bound together like a 
bundle of myrrh. Touched by its magic power, the 
hardest human heart begins to melt and run away, 
like rivers of waters, through eyes unused to weep. 
"Who does not know something of its strength and 
sweetness? "What man is there among you, in whose 
ear the thought of home does not float like celestial 
music ? When the siege of Vicksburg was over and 
ended, many of the soldiers obtained a furlough to re- 
turn home, to rest awhile; and immediately it passed 
into a proverb in the camp, "They are going to para- 
dise." After their forced marches, their long-suffering 
in the trenches, and their hard fighting, they were 
better able to appreciate their home; and, with one 
consent, they called it paradise. 

And now, although we may not take the earthly 
home as the express image of the heavenly, never- 
theless, by placing thorn sido by side, through the 



4IO BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

imperfections of the one, we shall be better able to 
see the perfections of the other. 

Heaven is a happy home. The earthly home is 
never perfectly happy ; and in many families there is 
more misery than we imagine. And, knowing that 
they are all unhappy, we should rather say that one 
is less sorrowful than another. If only Ave could be 
lifted up to some lofty plane beyond yon azure can- 
opy, and all beneath were unroofed and visible to our 
eyes, how many mourners and how much suffering 
would we see ! 

Down there in that damp basement, there is a poor 
broken-hearted widow surrounded by her children, 
half clad and hungry and crying for bread. And 
in the top story of the same dilapidated tenement, 
a mother is dying. One after another, her beloved 
offspring come bending over her couch, saying, with 
strong crying and tears, " Mother, dear mother, do 
you not know me?" and all at once she breathes no 
more. Over yonder in that new house by the hill- 
side, there is an empty cradle in the dark corner of 
an empty chamber, and two lonely parents cower- 
ing over the lifeless but sacred body of their cherub- 
like child. And in that little cottage just across the 
street, an aged father is already coffined, and the 
black hearse is waiting at the door to take him to 
his long home. 

Yes, and in many dwellings far and near, there 
would be sadder things than these, if we could see 
them ; for there is something worse than death : there 
is a nameless sorrow, and a hidden grief, which with 



OUR HEAVENLY HOME. 4II 

invisible hands, and a hammer without sound drives 
the sharpest iron through the lather's heart, when he 
thinks about his poor prodigal son; and sends the 
mother of her lost daughter mourning to an untimely 
grave. A living trouble is worse than a dead trouble. 

It was the wickedness of his children that made 
Jacob sucli a sorrowful man. Who can forget the 
story of Joseph? His brethren envied him; they 
were jealous of him ; they hated him ; and, in order to 
get him out of the way, they sold him into perpetual 
slaveiy. And having stained his coat of many colors 
with the blood of a kid, they took the red thing home 
to their father's tent, saying, with their lying lips, 
"This have we found: know now whether it be thy 
son's coat or no; and he knew it, and said, It is my 
son's coat; an evil beast hath devoured him: Joseph 
is without doubt rent in pieces." 1 

What disposition the weeping patriarch made of 
that bloody garment, we do not know; but we can 
not help thinking that he fondly cherished it as a 
remembrancer of his best and best beloved son ; and 
his eyes never rested on it, that they were not blinded 
by unbidden tears. The bitter thought, that it was 
Joseph's coat, was a blessed thought as well as bitter; 
and we can not count it a strange thing if it was cher- 
ished, though it crushed the heart that cherished it. 

There is a touching story, something like this, con- 

cerning a little child in Switzerland. Like Moses, he 

was "exceeding fair," 2 and had so many sweet and 

winning ways that he was almost worshipped. With 

' Gen. xxxvii. 32, 33. ' Acts vii. 20. 



4 1 2 BE A UTY FOR A SUES. 

her own hands, his mother made him a little coat of 
scarlet silk, all curiously and exquisitely embroidered; 
and the next morning alter the " raiment of needle- 
work " was finished, she put it on him, and sent him 
out to play. A mother's kiss was still resting on his 
ruddy cheek, and he had scarcely passed the thresh- 
old of the cottage, where he was born, when a great 
eagle snatched him away to her nest high up among 
the mountains, but still within sight of that home of 
which he had been the joy and expectation. The 
eyrie was inaccessible, and there, with deliberation, 
as it would seem, the eagles gathered and devoured 
him. But, in tearing the child asunder, these birds 
of prey left his "gay clothing" hanging partly over 
the edge of the nest like a little flag. When the 
wind blew it would flutter, and when the sun sinned 
its bright buttons would sparkle. For a long time 
after the eagles abandoned their nest, that little coat 
was visible there ; and every time the father went to 
his work, he would look that way, saying in his 
heart, so sadly, " It is my son's coat." And as week 
after week the mother watched it from the window 
of her house, it became the double emblem of her joy 
and sorrow. 

And in the happiest earthly home there is con- 
stantly coming to pass something like this. The lit- 
tle high chair, once so beautifully occupied by your 
Benjamin and Benoni, but now so painfully empty, 
will sometimes be seen, no matter where you store it 
away. And when, in haste, you open the drawer in 
seai'ch of something your face turns pale, and your 



O UR HE A VENL Y HOME. 4 1 3 

tears begin to flow, "Woman why weepest thou?" 
Is it not because you saw some memorial of the dear 
departed? Perhaps it was the dead baby's dress, — a 
long- white baptismal dress; or a little pair of worsted 
shoes. Perhaps it was a pocket Bible, a birthday 
gift to one who is gone to the grave, — your son's 
Bible, — the book he loved to read so much; and 
though his mouldering fingers shall mark its precious 
passages no more, yet, how much you prize it ! Why, 
every leaf is better worth to you than the biggest 
bank-note that was ever issued! a sad yet sweet me- 
morial. Perhaps it was a coat — 3'our son's coat, the 
one he wore the last time he went out to walk — your 
Joseph's coat. Perhaps it was a photograph, only 
the shadow it is true, but yet, the very next thing to 
the substance: his form is there, and every feature 
is so perfect; and, best of all, his smile is there, so 
sweet and pleasant, with which he used to meet you 
morning, noon, and night. And when you take the 
large Bible on your knee, to read a chapter, it will 
often open, of itself, between the Testaments; and, 
as you glance at the family record, you notice that 
the births and the burials are exactly equal to one 
another. 

Such things as these are constantly occurring in 
the happiest earthly home; but in the heavenly home, 
"God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and 
there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor cry- 
ing, neither shall there be any more pain: for the 
former things are passed away.'' 1 Sin, which is the 
1 Rev. xxi. 4. 



4 14 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

cause of all our suffering here, shall never enter there ; 
and just because we shall be free from sin forever, we 
shall be forever free from sorrow. In the book of 
Life no death will ever be recorded, and in the better 
country no grave will ever be opened. There will be 
no time "to heal" in heaven, and no time "to hate," 
and no time "to pluck up that which is planted," and 
no time "to mourn;" all will be a time of health and 
love and life and "joy unspeakable and full of glory." 1 
Not one of the many mansions when once occupied 
shall ever be left empty; no bounding heart will ever 
be broken in heaven, and no bright eye Avill ever be 
dimmed there with time or trouble or tears, or any 
such thing. The complete happiness of "the whole 
family in heaven " 2 is set before us in these splendid 
and sublime words of inspiration, — words which Rob- 
ert Burns, the peasant poet of Scotland, could never 
read without weeping, — " These are they which came 
out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes 
and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 
Therefore are they before the throne of God, and 
serve Him day and night in His temple: and He 
that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. 
They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more: 
neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat: for 
the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall 
feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains 
of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from 
their eyes." 3 

Heaven is a beautiful home. The imagery of the 
' I Pet. i. 8. 2 Eph. iii. 14. 3 Kev. yii. 14-17. 



O UR HE A VENL V HOME. 4 1 5 

text was probably borrowed from the Temple in Jeru- 
salem, which Jesus was sometimes pleased to call His 
Father's house, and which was confessedly the most 
beautiful and imposing structure that ever adorned 
the earth. It was made after a heavenly pattern, 
and was intended to be the " shadow of heavenly 
things." 1 It was, in every sense, "the house of the 
Lord," and was built according to His most special 
directions, and for His most special habitation. It 
was, in fact, a little heaven, chosen as the visible 
dwelling-place of the Most High; and consecrated, 
sanctified, and glorified by His visible presence. It 
was beautiful for situation, more beautiful in itself, 
but most beautiful in its purpose: "Out of Zion, the 
perfection of beauty, God hath shined." - Guided by 
the Old Testament, many have attempted to describe 
the Temple but they have all failed; and those who 
eaw it and walked through its courts have succeeded 
no better; because there is neither speech nor lan- 
guage by which its glory and its beauty could be 
sufficiently set forth. Its exterior appearance rivalled 
the splendor of the rising sun; while the interim' was 
finished and furnished and enriched and embellished 
with every thing that nature and art and wealth and 
taste could supply. In the expressive language of in- 
spiration, it was, as it was to be, "exceeding magni- 
fical, of fame and of glory throughout all countries."* 
Moreover, our heavenly home, is a house of man- 
sions. And a mansion is better every way than a cot- 
tage or a common dwelling. It is more elegant, com- 
« Heb. viii. 5. • Ps. 1. 2. 3 I Chron. xxii. 5. 



416 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

modiolus, and inviting; and can be owned and occupied 
only by the noble, the wealthy, and the great people 
of the earth. In the lowly tenement of the laboring 
poor there is hardly room enough for the family; and 
a dwelling-house which is ample and conveniently 
arranged is greatly to be desired; but a mansion is 
something very magnificent, being better located, and 
superior in its construction, and furnished with all 
the comforts and elegancies and luxuries of life. 

In our democratic country there is but one build- 
ing that is called a palace; and mansions are so few 
that the majority of our people have never seen any 
of them. Let us, therefore, glance at one as Ave 
pass along. Its beautiful surroundings need scarcely 
envy Eden for their surpassing loveliness. Entering 
the enchanted grounds, at the grand avenue gate, 
we are introduced, at once, into a very wilderness of 
glory. Here is " every tree which is pleasant to the 
sight and good for food;" and among the ambrosial 
branches there are birds of varying song, and smiling 
at our feet are flowers of every hue and sweetest fra- 
grance. Streams, clear as crystal, artificial lakes, and 
fountains flinging rainbows all around, contribute 
much to the charming beauty of this little paradise 
through which we pass to the palace. As we draw 
near, there rises to our view, story above story, a res- 
idence which rivals the home of royalty. The seat 
of an ancient and honorable family; it was builded 
long ago in the best style of architecture, and is a 
perfect gem of beauty. But all its exterior splendor 
grows pale, and suffers a total eclipse, when we pass 



OUR HEAVENLY HOME. 417 

within. Here, every hall and room is filled with every- 
thing* that heart could wish, and the cunning work- 
man could devise. All the Avails are adorned with 
the best productions of the pencil; while the gold and 
silver cup.s, and bronze vases, and marble statues, are 
too numerous to be counted. Not only is there noth- 
ing wanting anywhere, but every apartment is so 
superbly decorated that the eye is dazzled, and the 
mind bewildered with the superlative profusion of 
beauty. "Through wisdom is an house builded; and 
by understanding it is established: And by knowl- 
edge shall the chambers be filled with all precious 
and pleasant riches." 1 

And when heaven is spoken of under the similitude 
of a mansion, the splendor of our future dwelling-place 
is certainly foretokened. And as before our advanc- 
ing steps and admiring eyes, the pearly gates of that 
glorious home open of themselves, " 011 golden hinges 
turning," we almost hesitate to speak of its exceeding 
excellency. No mortal tongue can express its un- 
speakable magnificence; nor can the harps of all the 
angels sound out all its praises. The world has been 
emptied, of its richest imagery, and the whole uni- 
verse has contributed whatever is beautiful to set 
forth its glory; but all these figures combined can 
cast no more than the dim shadow of heaven : " For 
since the beginning of the world men have not heard, 
nor perceived by the car, neither hath the eye seen, 
God, besides thee, what He hath prepared for him 
that waiteth for Him." 3 

1 Prov. xxiv. 3, L • Isa. hdv. 4. 

27 



41 8 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

In the Scriptures there is now and then a glimpse 
of our Father's house ; but just here, where the desire 
to know more is greatest, the spirit of inspiration is 
silent, and the sacred writers are dumb. We often 
wondered that it should be so ; but now we wonder 
no more, because that heaven which could be brought 
down to human comprehension would not be worth 
having. And much as we love to look at the gor- 
geous imagery with which John has invested the 
mansions of bliss, we greatly prefer Paul's more sim- 
ple but most sublime description of them, when he 
says, " he was caught up into Paradise, and heard un- 
speakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to 
utter." 1 The great apostle, so far as we know, is the 
only man who ever visited heaven. He walked the 
golden streets of the New Jerusalem, entered into our 
Father's house, and saw the glorious mansions; and 
when he returned, he made no mention of the mat- 
ter for more than fourteen years. And when he did 
speak about it, in defence of his commission, he made 
no attempt to tell us his experience, because it Avas 
above and beyond all telling. Let us rejoice, there- 
fore, and be exceeding glad that we are going to a 
paradise of such surpassing glory and beauty that it 
can not be described. 

Heaven is an abiding home. It seems obvious 
enough that our house of mansions is not a tempo- 
rary but a permanent dwelling-place; but to make 
this truth still more manifest, we may be permitted 
to remark that the root of the word rendered man- 
i II Cor. xii. 4. 



OUR HEAVENLY HOME. 419 

sions means to remain: "There remaineth therefore 
a rest to the people of God." 1 And this is confess- 
edly the crowning glory of heaven, and ministers the 
sweetest comfort, and the strongest consolation, to 
those of us who are on our journey home. " Here 
have we no continuing city;" 2 " no certain dwelling- 
place." 3 It is true we may not seem like wayfaring 
men ; nevertheless we are nothing better. King Da- 
vid's stately palace was a house of pilgrimage. 

For the most part, we dwell in hired houses, and 
this makes them appear more like the moving tents 
they are. And although some of us may have the 
old homestead for our habitation, still it is perishing 
and passing away: " One generation passeth away, 
and another generation cometh." 4 The house can 
not be built that will resist the ravages of time. 
Where now are the golden mansions of the giant 
cities of Bashan? Go ask the modern traveller who, 
through much digging, finds in their graves a few 
broken fragments of their former glory. And our 
Father's house in Jerusalem, which was built of such 
great stones,' where is it? Once and again, it was 
swept away by the torch of the spoiler. Even God's 
own house could not be insured against the consum- 
ing' flame, and for many years this sore lamentation 
has been rising from its ruins: "Our holy and our 
beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is 
burned up witli fire; and all our pleasant things are 
laid waste." * 

1 Heb. iv. 9. 2 Ileb. xiii. 14. 3 I Cor. iv. 11. 

« EocL i. 4. » Ezra v. 8. « Isa. lx. 11. 



420 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

And as for ourselves, we too are perishing and pass- 
ing away, we are no better than the houses of our pil- 
grimage. " Our days on the eavth are as a shadow, 
and there is none abiding." 1 Oar fleeting bodies are 
but the shelter tents of our pilgrim souls. But when 
at last we come to the blessed end of our weary earth- 
way, we shall have an immortal body, and an abiding 
home. In place of the shifting tent, we shall have 
the house of mansions; and the pilgrim shall become 
" a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no 
more out." 2 "For we know that, if our earthly house 
of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building 
of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the 
heavens." 3 

Sometimes when joining in the family worship, 
where father and mother, and brothers and sisters, 
constitute "the church that is in their house," 4 I have 
felt, in my own mind, the painful presentiment of the 
days when those sunny faces shall turn pale on the 
dying pillow, one after another, and those pleasant 
voices shall be hushed in the silence of the grave, 
and that sweet home, whose roof-tree rings with the 
Lord's song morning and evening shall be left lonely 
and desolate. But I have comforted myself with the 
blessed assurance, that after that perishing home shall 
have passed away, like "a dream when one awak- 
, eth," 5 there will be another and a better home on 
high. It will be the everlasting resting-place of the 
long lost and much loved ones: that spot, than all 

1 I Chron. xxix. 15. 2 Rev. iii. 12. 3 II Cor. v. 1. 

* Eom. xvi. 5. * Ps. lxxiii. 20. 



OUR HEAVENLY HOME. 42 1 

beside, the brightest and the best, where all the wide 
scattered sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty 
shall be gathered together; and the broken circles of 
earth shall be mended in heaven; and the loved ones 
shall be ever loved and never lost again: "Their in- 
heritance shall be forever."' 1 

If only the thought of parting were permitted to 
enter the minds of the redeemed in glory, it would 
make them unhappy. The blinding tears would gath- 
er in their eyes as they looked around on the beautiful 
love-built mansions they might have to leave; there 
would be a deep bass undertone of sadness in the 
new song, and they would sing it like a melancholy 
wail, if there was any peradventure that it might 
cease. And oh, how their poor hearts would break 
and their tongues stammer when they attempted to 
talk to one another about the possibility of the former 
things returning ! 

But, God be thanked, this tormenting thought shall 
never cross the threshold of the heavenly home. 
When we enter our Father's house, we shall cany 
with us, not only the conviction that we are going 
home, but that we are going to an abiding home. 
" Here have we no continuing city, but we seek one 
to come:" 2 "a city which hath foundations, whose 
builder and maker is God." 3 Here, in the earthly 
home, our father grows old and dies; and gray hairs 
are here and there upon our elder brother: but our 
Father in heaven is without beginning of years or 
end of days; and our Elder Brother Jesus is "The 
1 Ps. xxxvii. 18. ■ » Heb. xiii. 14. => Hob. xi. 10. 



422 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

same yesterday, and to-day, and forever." ' There are 
no furrows on His brow; His eyes are not dim; and 
"His locks are bushy and black as a raven." 2 And 
as unchanging as their ever-living Father, and as 
young as their never-dying Brother, the whole family 
in heaven shall be. The mother there shall clasp in 
her arms, and carry in her bosom, the babes that pre- 
ceded her to glory ; and the painful thought of part- 
ing with them will never bring a shadow on her 
countenance. The brother whose sister gave him the 
home welcome to heaven, shall never experience the 
sorrow of being separated again from one so mild 
and lovely. He who enters that happiest home feels 
that the last conflict is over, the last tear is shed, 
the last sigh is hushed ; and that henceforth he shall 
never change, except from glory to glory. 

Oh, thou inhabitant of the continuing city, thou 
member of the heavenly home, thrice happy art thou! 
" Thy sun shall no more go down ; neither shall thy 
moon withdraw itself." 3 Thine will ever be a brow 
on which the drops of toil shall never burst; and 
beneath the weight of waning years thy celestial 
body shall never bend ; nor shall thy work or worship 
ever make thee weary. Thy happiness is more than 
doubled by the blessed assurance of its eternal dura- 
tion. Thou shalt sing the new song forever; thou 
shaft sweep the golden harp forever; and all the hills 
of heaven shall echo evermore these notes that are 
divine, "I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."* 

i Heb. xiii. 8. 2 Cant. v. 11. 

3 Isa. Is. 20. « Ps. xxiii. 6. 



O UR HE A VENL Y HOME. 423 

Heaven is a peaceful home. The mansions are all 
in one house ; and the separate abodes of the redeemed 
in glory are all within the same walls. In the earthly 
temple at Jerusalem, the several courts were within 
the same sacred enclosure; and the numerous cham- 
bers where the priests and Levites lodged, and the 
apartments of such devout worshippers as Anna and 
Simeon, were all under the same roof. When gath- 
ered within the precincts of their sanctuary, at the 
annual feasts, the twelve tribes were one. On the 
same altar they laid their various sacrifices; from 
their united hearts the same prayers were offered; 
and with one voice they sung the Lord's song. When 
David contemplated this beautiful sight, he said, "Be- 
hold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to 
dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oint- 
ment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, 
even Aaron's beard : that went down to the skirts of 
his garments; as the dew of Hermon, and as the 
dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion : for 
there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for 
evermore." ' 

And, blessed be God, it will be so with the whole 
family in heaven. In perfect and perpetual love, in 
perfect and perpetual peace, the sons and daughters 
of the Lord Almighty shall dwell together in their 
Father's house; and never forever shall any root of 
bitterness spring up to disturb their friendly and 
familiar intercourse. Here and now there are dis- 
putes and divisions among them: " Brother goeth to 
1 Ps. exxxiii. 



424 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

law with brother, and that before the unbelievers." 1 
In the conduct of the most distinguished saints great 
faults are often painfully apparent. The goodliest 
cedars are not all good ; some of them are very 
crooked and rough and gnarly, and have need of a 
great deal of cleaving and hewing and polishing. 
"By their fruits ye shall know them." 2 Hence we 
would not question the personal piety of any man, be- 
cause grace can grow anywhere, even on a thorn-bush, 
or a wild olive-tree. But, it will not be denied, that 
many of the Lord's chosen people are so imperfect 
and impertinent, that it is hard to love them; and, 
indeed, the tempers of some are so bad, and their 
tongues so sharp, that it is not pleasant to have any 
communion or fellowship with them at all. Like a 
chestnut bur, there is good fruit within them, and their 
hearts are lined with a substance that is softer than 
silk velvet, but all over the outside they bristle with 
prickles, and we do not care to take them by the 
hand. 

Long ago, when only one family constituted the 
church, and that family consisted of but three mem- 
bers, together with their servants, they could not 
agree. Strange as it may seem, into the tent of " the 
friend of God," 3 where angels were often entertained, 
discord entered: "And there was a strife between the 
herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's 
cattle;" 4 and this disagreement resulted in a life-long 
separation. 

i I Cor. vi. G. 2 Mat. vii. 20. 

3 James ii. 23. * Gen. xiii. 7. 



OUR HEAVENLY HOME. 425 

Although the twelve patriarchs were the sons of 
the same lather, they could not dwell tog-ether in 
peace ; they hated Joseph ; they conspired to kill 
hiin; they sold him into Egypt. And Avhen their 
despised brother was lord of all the land, and they 
were going away the second time with something 
better than corn to carry to their lather, they had 
need of the admonition, " See that ye fall not out by 
the way." ' 

The twelve tribes were no better than the twelve 
patriarchs. Jealousy and envy manifested themselves 
in the wilderness, and ripened at last into an open 
and successful rebellion in Canaan ; and for more than 
two hundred years there were two kings and two 
kingdoms in the Holy Land; and from the beginning 
to the end of their history, the mutual relation of 
Israel and Judah is expressed in the recorded fact 
that, "There was war between Eehoboam and Jero- 
boam all their days." 2 

Even the twelve apostles who sat together at the 
Saviour's feet often "disputed among themselves who 
should be the greatest." 5 And the best of them all 
seems to have been the most bigoted and sectarian; 
for he would rather that a poor man should go pos- 
sessed with a devil all his days, than that one not be- 
longing to Christ's company should cure him: "John 
answered and said, Master we saw one casting out 
devils in thy name: and we forbade him, because he 
followeth not with us." 4 

l Gen. xlv. 24. - I Kings xiv. 30. 

a Mark ix. 34. * Luke ix. 49. 



426 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

During the pentecostal revival, the church was 
perfectly united for the first time in its history: "The 
multitude of them that believed were of one heart 
and of one soul." 1 But this was the last time the 
church was perfectly united, as well as the first time. 
Those days of heaven on earth were very few; before 
the showers of blessings ceased, the fraternal spirit 
waxed cold, and in a little while, the brethren began 
to "bite and devour one another." 2 At Antioch Paul 
withstood Peter to his face, "because he was to be 
blamed." 3 In going about to preach the gospel of 
love, Paul and Barnabas could not "keep the unity 
of the spirit in the bond of peace ; " + " and the con- 
tention was so sharp between them, that they de- 
parted asunder one from the other." 5 The church of 
Corinth was a house divided against itself, every one 
of them was saying, "I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; 
and I of Cephas ; and I of Christ ; " 6 and some of the 
other churches which were planted by the apostles 
Avere scarcely any better. 

And these divisions and contentions have continued 
down to the present day. The Roman soldiers would 
not rend the Saviour's robe; but His own friends have 
torn the garment of His salvation into more than 
a hundred fragments and divided it among them- 
selves. There are I know not Iioav many denomina- 
tions agreeing mainly in the essential truths of the 
gospel, but differing just enough to keep up a con- 
stant irritation. All along the narrow way may 

> Acts iv. 32. 2 Gal. v. 15. 3 Gal. ii. 11. 

4 Eph. iv. 3. s Acts xv. 39. c I Cor. i. 12. 



OUR HEAVENLY HOME. 427 

be seen the rival mountains of Zion and Gerizira, 
crowned with their threatening towers, frowning de- 
fiantly on each other: and "The Jews have no deal- 
ings with the Samaritans." 1 

But when at last the children shall reach their Fa- 
ther's house in heaven, they will love one another 
more. Once within the mansions built of grace and 
beautified with glory, their party names and petty 
differences will be all forgotten. Their hatred, vari- 
ance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, en- 
vyings, and such like works of the flesh shall be left 
behind them, and all the members of the family shall 
be altogether lovely. In the pillar or door-post so 
elegant and even, so straight and smooth, and "pol- 
ished after the similitude of a palace," 2 you will hard- 
ly be able to recognize the rough and crooked cedar 
that you used to know ; nor will there be any thing 
strange in taking sweet counsel with those who were 
not congenial on the earth. 

Love's own country will be large enough for Abra- 
ham and Lot, and there will be no strife between 
them concerning the green pastures of Paradise. 
John will be just like Jesus at the marriage supper 
in the marriage mansion; and should he see some of 
the inhospitable Samaritans there, he will have no de- 
sire to call down fire "and consume them." 3 Peter 
and Paul will be "both righteous before God, walk- 
ing in all the commandments and ordinances of the 
Lord blameless." 4 Paul and Barnabas " shall sec eye 

1 John iv. 9. 2 Ps. cxliv. 12. 

* Luke ix. 51. * Luke i. C. 



428 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

to eye," ' and have no contention forever. The mem- 
bers of the church of Corinth shall be " perfectly 
joined together in the same mind and in the same 
judgment." 2 "The envy also of Ephraim shall de- 
part, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: 
Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not 
vex Ephraim." 3 

No angry word, no unkind look, no evil thought, 
will ever be heard, or seen, or entertained in heaven. 
There the Elder Brother's prayer will be answered, 
"That the}*- all may be one: as thou Father, art in 
me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us." * 
Thrice happy family ! " There is neither Jew nor 
Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is nei- 
ther male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ 
Jesus." 5 

Heaven is a spacious home. " In my Father's house 
are many mansions." If we should take a survey of 
the present generation, we would be surprised at the 
fewness of the saints. The way to heaven is narrow, 
and in it there is only here and there a traveller. 
But the way to heaven was always narrow, and in 
every generation the saints were few in comparison 
of those who loved not the Lord: "Narrow is the 
way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that 
find it." 6 Because the Church is spoken of "as the 
lily among thorns,"' and as a "little flock"* in the 

i Isa. lii. 8. 2 I Cor. i. 10. 

3 Isa. xi. 13. * John xvii. 21. 

o Gal. iii. 28. 6 Mat. vii. 14. 

» Cant. ii. 2. 8 Luke xii. 32. 



OUR HEAVENLY HOME. 429 

midst of ravening wolves, some people have come to 
think that the lost Avill be more in number than the 
saved; and that hell is a larger place than heaven. 

And though it may seem such a vain and foolish 
thing for us to speculate about the probable number 
of the saved and lost, as if we were standing on the 
deck of a sinking ship, and counting those who 
escape safe to land, and those who perish, and then 
comparing them with each other, — yet after all we 
can not help saying that, in our opinion, the number 
of the saved will be much greater than the number of 
the lost. The Captain of our salvation in one place 
is spoken of as "bringing many sons unto glory;" 1 
and in another place, as "reconciling the world unto 
Himself;" 2 and better yet, we read in another place, 
that "He is the propitiation for our sins; and not for 
ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world : " 3 
and there is a proper scripture sense in which it may 
be said that the world shall be saved. 

In striving for the mastery, the Saviour will over- 
come Satan. With His bruised heel He shall bruise 
the serpent's head, and the trophies of His grace shall 
be multiplied like the drops of the morning dew. The 
"remnant according to the election of grace," 4 the 
scanty few, the travellers here and there along the 
narrow way, when gathered all together, at the home- 
gathering in heaven, will be a goodly company. The 
little flock shall become a large flock in heaven: it is 
a large Hock already. The little lambs alone, whom 

' Heb. ii. 10. 2 II Cor. v. 19. 

3 I John ii 2. * Horn. xi 5. 



430 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

the good Shepherd carried away in His bosom, are so 
numerous that no man could count them. And as 
more than half the human race die in infancy, we 
have a majority to begin with. And if to these we 
add all "the holy men of old," since righteous Abel 
bent alone before the throne; and then to these all 
those throughout the world who are now adorning 
the doctrine of God their Saviour; and then to these 
the saints of the coming millennium, the thousand 
years of reigning righteousness, it shall come to pass 
that the most of mankind shall be saved. And so 
there is a needs-be for the many mansions in the 
heavenly home. "After this I beheld, and, lo, a 
great multitude, which no man could number, of 
all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, 
stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed 
with white robes, and palms in their hands." * 

They are quite mistaken in their contracted con- 
ceptions of heaven, and have no proper sympathy 
with its catholic spirit, who look upon it as the meet- 
ing place of a sect: a little upper room where a small 
party shall be gathered together in close communion. 
The New Jerusalem has been seen and measured ; and, 
believe me, it is big enough for every body. And as 
we glance at the glorious home to which we are 
going, we can not help praying that there may be 
a full heaven and an empty hell. " He carried me 
away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and 
showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, de- 
scending out of heaven from God, having the glory 
1 Eev. vii. 9. 



OUR HEAVENLY HOME. 43 1 

of God: and her light was like tinto a stone most 
precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; 
and had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, 
and at the gates twelve angels, and names written 
thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes 
of the children of Israel : on the east three gates ; 011 
the north three gates; on the south three gates; and 
on the west three gates. And the wall of the city 
had twelve foundations, and in them the names of 
the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And he that talked 
with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and 
the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. And the 
city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as 
the breadth : and he measured the city with the 
reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the 
breadth and the height of it are equal. And he 
measured the wall thereof, a hundred and forty and 
four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that 
is, of the angel." ' 

You will notice that the same number of gates into 
the new city open toward every quarter of the globe. 
"On the east three gates; on the north three gates; 
on the south three gates; and on the west three 
gates." And may we not entertain the hope that 
every quarter of the globe shall be equally repre- 
sented among the redeemed who shall walk those 
golden streets? " I say unto you, That many shall 
Come from the east, and west, and shall sit down 

with Abraham and [saac and Jacob in the kingdom 
of heaven."' "I will say to the north. Give up; and 

1 Rev. xxi. 10-17. Mat. viii. 11. 



432 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

to the south, Keep not back : bring my sons from far, 
and my daughters from the ends of the earth." ' 

The time was when but one of these mansions was 
occupied ; righteous Abel was for many years the only 
saint in heaven. When, therefore, the new song was 
first sung in the new city, it was a solo ; but that song 
which was started by a single voice soon became a 
chorus, and the volume of that chorus has been in- 
creasing ever since, and it will wax louder and louder, 
till time shall end. " I heard as it were the voice of a 
great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and 
as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia : 
for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth." 2 For this 
countless throng, we rejoice to know there is room 
enough in heaven. 

"In my Father's house are many mansions." What 
a blessed truth this is ! What if we do not know 
where heaven is ! what if we can not tell the exact 
number of those who shalL go there ! what if there 
be so many things about it that we do not under- 
stand ! there is this one thing about it, beautifully 
plain and heart -touching, the mansions are many. 
Oh how sweet it sounds ! there is room enough for 
all the world in heaven. The vacant mansions are 
not so many as they were, because a goodly number 
have been taken ; others are spoken for. And day and 
night without ceasing, a blood-washed, white-robed, 
and palm-bearing procession is pressing through the 
gates into that glorious home, "yet there is room." 3 
There is room enough for you, and room enough for 
' Isa. xliii. 6. * Kev. xix. 6. 3 Luke xiv. 22. 



OUR HEAVENLY HOME. 433 

me, and room enough for all the world in heaven. 
And, better still, by the grace of God, some of us are 
on the way, and some of us are almost there — almost 
home. The aromatic atmosphere is evidence enough 
that we are among the mountains of myrrh and the 
hills of frankincense along the border of the better 
country: and in the night we can see, gleaming 
through the darkness, the light of the celestial city 
and of our Father's house. Yes, blessed be God, we 
ai - e almost home. And such a home! a home so 
happy; a home so beautiful; a home so abiding; a 
home so peaceful; a home so spacious. 

" my sweet home, Jerusalem ! 
Thy joys when shall I see ? " 

There are, doubtless, some of you who have no 
home in heaven; no Father there, nor Brother. And 
I can not close without saying that you may have 
all these freely and forever. Some of these beautiful 
mansions, at which we have been looking, are to let; 
ami, by the grace of God, I am one of those agents 
whose business it is to rent them to you, or any body 
else. Nay, I am one of those servants to whom the 
Landlord hath said, "Go out into the highways and 
hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house 
may be lilled." 1 

Dearly beloved and longed-for, if you would like 

to have Such a house, and secure Such a home, I now, 

in my .Master's aame, offer you the lease: a lease not 

for a year, nor for a term of years, but for eternity; 
' Luke xiv. 23. 



434 BEAUTY FOR ASHES. 

a lease " without money and without price." * Come 
to Jesus just now, and just as you are; His cross is 
the key, and Himself is the door: "By me if any man 
enter in, he shall be saved." 2 Would that I could 
persuade you to take the first look heavenward to- 
day ! Would that I could constrain you to take the 
first step homeward to-day ! Then your heaven would 
be more than two heavens for me, and your home 
would be more than two homes for me : " For God is 
my record, how greatly I long after you all in the 
bowels of Jesus Christ." 3 

When La Fayette made his last visit to this country, 
our fathers gave him a right royal reception. A gaily 
decorated fleet sailed down the bay to meet him ; com- 
ing within hailing of his ship, all the bands of music 
began to play the favorite French air, "Where can 
one better be, than in the bosom of his family." The 
venerable man acknowledged the compliment with 
courtesy, but manifested no emotion. As he came 
ashore, the land and water were trembling to the 
thunder of artillery, old soldiers of the Revolution 
saluted him with tears, and all the people shouted — 
" Welcome, welcome, La Fayette ! " but still the noble 
marquis remained unmoved. With waving banners, 
and under triumphal arches, he was conducted to 
Castle Garden, where many of the great men of the 
nation were gathered to do him honor; yet all this 
while he remained unmoved. But just as soon as 
he- had taken his seat in a marquee which had been 
prepared for him, a curtain was lifted, revealing a 
' Isa. lv. 1. 2 John x. 9. => -phil. i. 8. 



OUR HE A VENL Y HOME. 43 5 

representation of La Grange where he was born and 
brought up ; and when he saw the shadow of the old 
family mansion and his own sweet home, the great 
man's great heart was touched into tenderness, and 
he bowed his head, buried his face in his hands, and 
wept like a child. 

To those of you who are away from home, what 
shall I more say? what can I more say? With pleas- 
ant thoughts about your Father's house, I have tried 
to touch your hearts, and make you homesick, and 
it may be that I have failed. But if only I could 
stretch out my hand and draw aside the blue curtain 
of the sky, and you could get one glimpse of heaven, 
the sight of your eyes would so affect your heart, that 
you could not help saying, " I will arise and go to my 
Father." 1 And straightway your Father would rise 
and run down to meet you here, and fall upon your 
neck, and kiss you, and take you up to your heavenly 
home. 

" Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet 
there is room." 2 

1 Luke xv. 13. 2 Luke xiv. 22. 



Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place in all gen- 
erations. Before the mountains were brought forth, 
or ever thou haclst formed the earth and the world, 
even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. 
O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that Ave may re- 
joice and be glad all our days. Make us glad accord- 
ing to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and 
the years wherein we have seen evil. Let thy work 
appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their 
children. And let the beauty of the Lord our God 
be upon us ; and establish thou the work of our hands 
upon us ; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it. 



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cient or modern, living or dead, that we have ever come in contact with, equals him in this 
respect." — Southern Churchman. 

Ryle's Home Truths. 5 vols 5.00 

♦Sampson on Hebrews 3 00 

Scotia's Bards. Illustrated 4.50 

Smith's Daily Remembrancer l.oo 

♦Sprague's Annals of the American Pulpit. 9 vols 36.00 

Stevenson's Praying and Working 1.00 

" Lives and Deeds 1.25 

Taylor (Jeremy), Sermons 2.50 

Theological Sketch Book 3 50 

Watson's Body of Divinity 3 00 

"Williams' Religious Progress I.25 

" Lectures on the Lord's Prayer I.25 

'• Dr. Williams has no superior among American divines. He seems fa'miiiar with' the liter- 
ature of the world, and lays his vast resources under contribution to illustrate and adorn every 
theme which he investigates. We wish the volume could be placed in every religious family ill 

the country."— Phil. Cm. Chronicle. 

Wilberforce's Ordination Addresses 1.50 

Young (John), The Christ of History. 121110 1.25 

"An argument in lavor of the Divinity of Christ, founded on the facts of his earthly life 
What we admire in the argument is the candor and fairness with which it is conducted "— 

1 



THE NEW BOOKS. 



THE KING IN HIS BEAUTY. By the Rev. Richard Newton, 
D.D., author of the "Jewel Case," the "Wonder Case," and "Rays 
from the Sun of Righteousness," 6 illustrations $1-25 

" He tells no stories because they are good stories, but only because in 
his applications of them, they are telling applications of Scripture truth." — 
Episcopal Register. 

BEAUTY FOR ASHES. By Rev. Alexander Dickson, author of 

" All about Jesus," and uniform with it 2.00 

Fourth edition of « ALL ABOUT JESUS." i 2 mo 2.00 

"We do not know of a book anywhere that contains more of the Bible in 
solution. Every page abounds in happy and ingenious quotations of holy 
writ. It is a glorious tribute to King Jesus, which will be eagerly welcomed 
by tens of thousands of his loving disciples."- — Rev. T. L. Cuyler. 

THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH. By the author of the "Wide, Wide 

World. i6mo 1.50 

AMONG THE TURKS. By the Rev. Dr. Hamlin 1.50 

" His personal reminiscences are simply charming. No novel is more 
interesting. . . . It is excellent, authentic, instructive and intentionally 
impartial." — CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE. 

BRIGHTER THAN THE SUN. A Life of our Lord. By J. R. 

Macduff, D.D. With sixteen full-page illustrations 3.50 

" It is not so pretentious a book as Farrar, not so extensive a book as 
Geikie, but we prefer it to either for its devout spirit and simple natural- 
ness. . . . The pictorial illustrations are as excellent as they are fresh." 
Christian at Work. 

THE CHRISTIAN'S HERITAGE AND OTHER SER- 
MONS. By the late Melancthon W. Jacobus, D.D 1.50 

"The sermons are vigorous, terse, original and suggestive. The portrait 
prefixed to the book will recall to his friends the outward appearance of one 
whom to know was to love." — Christian at Work. 

LIFE OF REV. WILLIAM ARNOT 2.00 

HIDDEN LIFE. By Saphir 1.50 

ABRAHAM THE FRIEND OF GOD. By Dr. Dykes 1.50 

PINE NEEDLES. A Tale. By the author of the "Wide, Wide 

World." iamo 1.50 



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